Ford is giving us a $3.5 billion chemistry lesson.
The vehicles should qualify for tax credits: $7,500 for leased vehicles and $3,750 for those who purchase, and access to the credits under the Inflation Reduction Act led to the decision to make the batteries in Michigan instead of a site in Canada or Mexico, Ford VP of Industrialization for Model E Lisa Drake said. Current EVs use nickel cobalt manganese batteries and Ford offers a choice of a standard or extended-range battery in the Mach-E and F-150 Lightning.
Conversely, LFP batteries are for the many retail customers who drive the same route consistently, averaging about 32 miles a day in a Mach-E or 28 miles daily in a Lightning, usually in temperatures above freezing, and who want to charge the vehicle to 100 percent every night. Or there's the commercial customer with a short but set route, who charges at the depot every night. The batteries are exceptionally durable and work best when charged to the max.
To help scale things up, Ford announced plans for the new battery plant in its home state. It will be operational in 2026 and employ 2,500 people. BlueOval Battery Park Michigan will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford, working with CATL, a major battery company. Virginia had been in the running for the plant but pulled out of the race because CATL is a Chinese company.The plant will be run by Ford but use equipment, tech, and expertise from CATL.
Ford is already spending $11.4 billion on a new EV assembly plant in Stanton, Tennessee, to make next-generation electric F-Series trucks , and three new battery plants at the Blue Oval City complex in Tennessee as well as Glendale, Kentucky. The BlueOvalSK battery cell plants are in partnership with SK Innovation.BlueOvalSK in Tennessee has a capacity of 43 GWh per year and will be operational in 2025.
General Motors is spending $35 billion on electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025, including $6.5 on Michigan plants, and is building four battery assembly plants with partner LG Energy Solution. The Ultium Cells LLC plants in Lordstown, Ohio, Spring Hill, Tennessee, Lansing, Michigan, and a fourth location still to be announced will have more than 160 GWh of initial capacity. Stellantis has announced plans for battery plants in Kokomo, Indiana, as well as Windsor, Ontario.
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