Ford today announced a plan to build a $3.5 billion factory in Marshall, Michigan to produce 35 GWh of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells for electric vehicles from 2026. Ford already announced plans to start using LFP batteries in the Mustang Mach-E from mid-2023 and F-150 Lightning from early 2024. However, those batteries will be sourced from CATL in China, the leading cell manufacturer in the world and one of the leaders in LFP production. Ford will license CATL technology but it will own the new factory and operate it, rather than creating a joint venture.
While Ford will start using CATL LFP batteries later this year, shipping those batteries from China won’t help the company reach its sustainability goals. Batteries are heavy and bulky and the emissions associated with shipping them halfway around the world will significantly cut into the gains from eliminating the tailpipe from these vehicles. Those vehicles also will not qualify for any clean vehicle tax credits.
This is why Ford and other OEMs are moving so aggressively to localize battery production to wherever vehicles are built and sold. Ford previously announced a joint-venture with Korea’s SK ON for three cell plants in Kentucky and Tennessee that are already well under construction. Those plants will produce nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) cells.
Source: Forbes
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