Photo: Ford
Ford announced on Monday it would be investing $3.5 billion to construct a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, confirming previous reports last week. The brand new plant shall be called BlueOval Battery Park Michigan.
The automaker says production should begin by 2026 and create 2,600 jobs. Ford says it’s the primary automaker to commit to constructing each nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) and LFP batteries within the U.S. Having batteries in-built the U.S. means Ford will qualify for federal tax incentives that favor production of batteries in America.
Ford has partnered with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL)–the world’s leading battery manufacturer. The plan will see Ford’s wholly owned subsidiary manufacture the battery cells using LFP battery cell knowledge and services provided by CATL; the latter has operated 13 plants in Europe and Asia.
CATL also supplies batteries to Tesla and its electric vehicles.
LFP batteries are set to debut within the Mustang Mach-E this 12 months and the F-150 Lightning in 2024. The brand new LFP plant will add roughly 35 gigawatt hours (GWh) of LFP battery capability, says Ford.
“We’re committed to leading the electrical vehicle revolution in America, and meaning investing within the technology and jobs that may keep us on the leading edge of this global transformation in our industry,” said Bill Ford, Ford executive chair, in a press release. “I’m also proud that we selected our home state of Michigan for this critical battery production hub.”
Ford plans to construct 600,000 EVs globally by the tip of 2023 and a couple of million globally by the tip of 2026.
“Ford’s electric vehicle lineup has generated huge demand. To get as many Ford EVs to customers as possible, we’re the primary automaker to commit to construct each NCM and LFP batteries in the USA,” said Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO, in a press release. “We’re delivering on our commitments as we scale LFP and NCM batteries and hundreds, and shortly thousands and thousands, of consumers will begin to reap the advantages of Ford EVs with cutting-edge, durable battery technologies which can be growing cheaper over time.”
The news comes after a report last 12 months suggested that CATL was seeking to construct a brand new factory within the U.S., and talks with Ford have been underway since at the very least last February.
It also comes just per week after Ford said its EVs wouldn’t turn into profitable until 2025, and after CEO Jim Farley said that the automaker uses “25 percent more engineers” than its rivals to do the identical amount of labor.