Ford, along with the rest of the industry, is currently on a mission to scale EV production significantly by the end of the decade. As Ford Authority reported last week, the automaker is shoring up an agreement with one battery component manufacturer for a new plant in Canada. Now, it appears The Blue Oval is also engaged in talks with another company for additional plants as well, per a new report from Bloomberg.
While specifics about the talks haven’t surfaced just yet, the company is talking with Posco Chemical Co. about future investments at facilities that would produce cathode-active or anode materials for EV batteries. Ford isn’t the only automaker speaking with the South Korean firm either, as GM and Stellantis are also on speaking terms with the manufacturer, although it is unclear if the plants would produce materials for all three companies or be individually-owned entities. At this point, any future plant that may arise from the discussions would be situated in North America. This is especially important after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which imposed strict requirements on EV vehicle assembly locations and battery assembly sites in regards to consumer tax credits, which can net EV buyers up to $7,500 per vehicle purchase. Ford CEO Jim Farley recently said the bill will significantly benefit the company and its partners.
Currently, The Blue Oval is on track to meet its 600,000 annual EV production run rate by late 2023 and has entered into agreements with multiple companies to secure most of the raw materials for its 2 million production run rate by 2026. As part of that plan, Ford is spending about $50 billion to build new plants and transition existing facilities toward fully electric vehicle production.
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Comment
Article on new battery plant. You made the comment the South Korean company would build the plant in North America which is important for the tax credits. From what I’ve read, the company could make the components and batteries in South Korea as they have a free trade pact with us.