As it faces an ongoing semiconductor chip shortage that has seriously hampered production, Ford is well aware of the many problems stemming from other imported parts. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact not only on automakers’ own production efforts but also the suppliers that provide them with parts needed to build vehicles. One thing in particular that concerns Ford CEO Jim Farley is EV battery production, which currently takes place mostly outside the U.S.
“We need to bring large-scale battery production to the U.S., and we’ll be talking to the government about that, CEO Jim Farley said while speaking at the Wolfe Research Auto Conference. “We can’t go through what we’re doing with chips right now with Taiwan. It’s just too important.”
SK Innovation, Ford’s battery supplier for the forthcoming Ford F-150 BEV, recently lost an intellectual property lawsuit against its rival, LG Chem. As a result, the International Trade Commission banned SK from importing batteries to the U.S. for ten years, though it will be allowed to import components that will be used in the F-150 BEV for the next four years.
Last summer, Ford was adamant that it would continue to source its EV batteries from suppliers rather than making them in-house. However, just a few months later, Farley admitted that the automaker was looking into EV battery production, something that General Motors, Tesla, Volkswagen, and Daimler have all invested in.
It’s unclear if Farley intends to move forward with these plans, or if the automaker is pushing for more EV battery suppliers to set up shop in the U.S., as SK Innovation was attempting to do before its legal battle halted those plans. Regardless, it’s clear that Ford is well aware of the potential problems importing these parts can cause moving forward, especially as it ramps up EV production.
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Comments
Ford just like any other maker of anything you need to build your own batteries, chips, and many critical components for your vehicles… you should be diversifying in banking, electrification, chips, software, so go get small start ups to catch up before you get left behind… Korea will make sure hunday/kia has all the chips they need.. quit being reliant on imported stuff
Jorge – while a great concept, the amount of chips used just by Ford is not enough to support the operation of a chip production system for more than 3 or 4 weeks, leaving you with 10 months of shut down. There are no start-ups making their own chips, all of them have their chip built by one of the few chip makers.
Xiden’s puppet masters don’t have any plans to help American car manufacturers or American workers for that matter, this was made very clear within days of his phony inauguration. I would say to Jim to suck it up but he’ll get a golden parachute on the way out anyways while more and more American workers lose their jobs.
Great! This will help us be more dependent on lithium from China instead of petroleum from the United States.
Go play with y’all’s ⛽ gas powered racecar, Jim.