With a planned investment of $50 billion with a goal of producing two million EVs annually by 2026, Ford will obviously need a large supply of batteries to reach that goal, as well as ramp up production significantly in the coming years. That task will be more difficult amid numerous supply chain shortages and concerns around the ethical and environmental impact of sourcing raw materials for Ford EV battery plants – even with its newly-formed joint venture, BlueOvalSK – which has the automaker looking at additional suppliers, considering vertical integration, and switching over to lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries as well. Now, a new Ford EV battery master plan has been revealed that seems poised the help The Blue Oval achieve those goals in the coming years.
By late 2023, FoMoCo plans on producing a grand total of 600,000 EVs across the globe, consisting of 270,000 Ford Mustang Mustang Mach-E crossovers, 150,000 Ford F-150 Lightning pickups, 150,000 E-Transit vans, and 30,000 units of an all-new mid-size crossover destined for Europe. Ford reports that it has already secured the raw materials necessary to reach this goal, via a number of partnerships. That includes securing LFP batteries packs for the Mach-E starting next year and the F-150 Lightning in 2024 from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL), as well as drawing from existing suppliers such as LG Energy Solution (LGES), SK On, and LGES.
Through those relationships, Ford has secured not only all of the battery cell capacity it needs to build 600k EVs by the end of 2023, but also 70 percent of what it needs to reach its goal of producing two million annually by 2026. The automaker has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a number of companies to explore additional supplier agreements, including with CATL for an additional 40 GWh of LFP capacity in North America starting in 2026, Koç Holdings in Turkey for a new joint venture, and Vale Canada Ltd., PT Vale Indonesia, Huayou Cobalt, and BHP for nickel, in addition to direct-sourcing battery cell raw materials as well.
As far as lithium and copper go, FoMoCo has also secured several key contracts for that critical material from the likes of Liontown Resources, Rio Tinto, EcoPro BM, SK On, ioneer, Compass Minerals, and Syrah Resources.
“Ford’s new electric vehicle lineup has generated huge enthusiasm and demand, and now we are putting the industrial system in place to scale quickly,” said Jim Farley, Ford’s president and CEO and president of Ford Model e. “Our Model e team has moved with speed, focus, and creativity to secure the battery capacity and raw materials we need to deliver breakthrough EVs for millions of customers.”
We’ll have more on Ford’s EV plans soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
I don,t want and won,t buy a EV ,I am been a Ford owner all my life, but I am been about done Ford , they have been making bad decisions for the last 10 years or so, starting with the 3 valve Triton engines, CVT trannies, and now trying to push EV,s on us and no one wants them, they have no economy cars with gas $4-5 per gallon. Ridiculous!
There is a grassroots Nationwide boycott against Ford (by Ford owners), and their low profit/sales numbers show it. Jim Farley is killing a once great company.
Battery’s that cost $15K which degrade over a short period of time. Just like those folks that bought Ford EVs that got discontinued and can’t even get a replacement battery after only 65k miles (per news articles). This is why folks are abandoning companies that are investing in EVs and switching to companies like Toyota. Ford is losing their buttons financially over their EV push that no one is buying.