In July this year, it was reported that the battery cooperation project between CATL and Ford Motor was suddenly investigated by the United States. The Detroit News reported today that Ford plans to pause construction of a $3.5 billion battery factory.
Regarding the rumors that Ford has stopped its plan to build a factory in the United States with CATL, a staff member of CATL’s securities department responded to the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily: “It is false news, and our progress is smooth.”
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In previous years, LFP batteries were rarely used in electric vehicles outside of China, but that is starting to change. Currently, some of Tesla’s electric vehicles already use LFP batteries, and Ford has obtained a supply of LFP batteries from CATL for use in models such as the Mustang Mach-E.
In February this year, CATL and Ford announced a partnership. The two parties will jointly build a battery factory in Michigan, USA, to produce new lithium iron phosphate batteries. CATL will license the patented battery technology.
According to public information, the plant called Blue Oval Battery Park Michigan is located in Marshall, Michigan, and is scheduled to begin operations in 2026. It will have an annual production capacity of 35 GWh, enough to supply 400,000 electric vehicles, and will cost approximately US$3.5 billion.
“We have paused work and will limit construction spending at Marshall until we are confident in our competitiveness to operate the plant,” a Ford spokesman told The Detroit News, adding that it had not yet Make the final decision.
In addition, Ford has three North American battery plants under construction. This is a joint venture with SK Innovation, two of which are located in Kentucky and the third in Tennessee.
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In 2022, the U.S. Congress passed a $430 billion inflation reduction bill that would prohibit future tax credits for electric vehicles if any electric vehicle battery components are manufactured or assembled by a “foreign related entity.” , so Ford had to invest $3.5 billion to hire CATL to produce batteries in the United States.
According to reports, the factory plans to invest US$3.5 billion (Note: currently about 25.585 billion CNY, fully owned by Ford), is expected to be put into production in 2026, and will create at least 2,500 jobs in the United States. Ford said in May it expected annual production at the plant to reach about 42GWh when it reaches full production.
