According to Nikkei Chinese website, Ford Motor announced that it will restart the previously interrupted construction plan of a pure electric vehicle battery factory in Michigan, USA.
Ford said in a statement earlier this week that it was pleased to confirm the project was moving forward, but would scale back production to consider the balance between investment, growth and profitability.
Annual production: originally planned 35 GWh, now reduced to 20 GWh
Staff size: originally planned to be 2,500 people, now reduced to 1,700Ford’s explanation for this is that the popularity of pure electric vehicles in the United States is slower than expected.
In February this year, CATL and Ford announced a partnership. The two parties will jointly build a battery factory near Marshall, Michigan, USA, to produce new lithium iron phosphate batteries. CATL will license the patented battery technology.
It was previously reported that in late July this year, multiple foreign media reported that “the battery cooperation project between CATL and Ford Motor Co. was suddenly investigated by the United States.” In response, the staff of CATL’s Board Secretariat responded to Sino-Singapore Jingwei, saying that they are paying attention to the news and that the project with it (Ford Motors) is progressing normally.
But in September this year, the Detroit News reported that Ford planned to suspend construction of the $3.5 billion battery factory. “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.
