Following a lengthy exploration period, The Blue Oval settled on Marshall, Michigan as the site of its newest EV battery plant – officially known as Ford BlueOval Battery Park Michigan – which will begin producing lithium-iron phosphate batteries in 2026. With the land transfer already complete and the United Auto Workers union looking to organize the new plant, the next step is securing the funding necessary to erect it. In that regard, the state of Michigan previously asked for a $750 million dollar infusion, though a later bill added an additional $630 million to that total, and Michigan’s Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund is poised to funnel $1.7 billion in the site. However, the state’s investments in Ford BlueOval Battery Park Michigan continue with a new grant, according to 9 and 10 News.
That performance-based grant totals $120.3 million and comes from the Strategic Site Readiness Program. The money will be used for a variety of needs at the future site, including land acquisition, site preparation, water and wastewater upgrades, professional fees, administration, and public infrastructure improvements that are deemed necessary during the construction process.
“This exciting project will have a positive impact on our area for generations to come by creating thousands of jobs at the facility as well as other opportunities related to its construction and spinoff investments,” said Jim Durian, CEO of the Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance. “This development also will create a new, long-lasting talent pipeline, allowing local young people to stay in the region, put down roots, and raise their own families.”
Ford BlueOval Battery Park Michigan will be the first LFP battery plant in the U.S. and will use technology licensed from battery-marker CATL to build those units, which are expected to be deployed in standard range variants of future Ford EV models.
We’ll have more on Ford BlueOval Battery Park Michigan soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for non-stop Ford news coverage.
Comments
Why are taxpayers funding private enterprise? The market should be doing this.
Market failed to do squat to the extent that US invented IP ended being bought by the Chinese who are presently the technology leader in such battery production.
It’s a tremendous expense to make the pivot to BEV tech. At the federal level the incentives are to incubate and accelerate this pivot. St the state level it’s to pull production, jobs and related taxes into their state.
I am not sure how either of the above noted commenters ever got ‘running water and flush toilet’s?
Try thinking of the government/business relationship as a ‘partnership’ equally concerned and interested in doing the best for the U.S.
If you cannot, I suspect you are destined to live out your days in cave somewhere nobody will care about…. and that would be very sad indeed.
Or rural electrification. Or hydroelectric power. Or a win in WW2 based on all the aluminum and uranium being refined using those early FDR era established national assets.
Unfortunately these stooges have no concept of how early FDR era technological incubation massively enabled making the USA a tech and economic superpower.
For them it’s all hurr durr me patriot and muh freedom blather on the emotional and social understanding level of a toddler.