Ford F-150 Lightning pickup trucks sit on the production line at the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center on April 26, 2022 in Dearborn, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
ford motor On Thursday it said it has secured 100% of the battery supply needed to deliver electric vehicles at 600,000 per year by the end of 2023 – and that the Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology That will help it achieve a rate of 2 million EVs per year by 2026, while reducing the cost of some of Ford’s most popular electric models.
Investors and Wall Street analysts have questioned whether global automakers like Ford will be able to source the batteries and raw materials needed to meet their ambitious EV sales targets. Ford’s announcements were part of a larger presentation intended to show that it has already secured a lot of the supplies it will need.
“Ford’s new electric vehicle lineup has generated enormous excitement and demand, and we are now rapidly scaling the industrial system,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. “Our Model E team has moved forward with the speed, focus and creativity to secure the battery capacity and raw materials we need to deliver successful EVs to millions of customers.”
The “Ford Model E” is the company’s electric-vehicle division.
Ford said it would begin offering vehicles with low-cost lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries from the contemporary Amperex, known as the CATL. While LFP batteries offer somewhat less range per pound than Ford’s current batteries, they also cost about 10% to 15% less, Ford said — and they will reduce the company’s reliance on minerals such as nickel, which That is expected to be in short supply. next few years.
Ford will begin offering its Mustang Mach-E with LFP battery packs supplied by CATL next year, and will expand its F-150 Lightning pickup truck options in early 2024.
At the same time, Ford will rely on its current battery suppliers, Korean companies LG Energy Solutions and SK On, to help it meet production targets for the end of 2023 and past 2 million EVs per year by 2026.
Ford said that so far, about 70% of the battery capacity needed to support that latter goal has already been secured. The automaker has signed a non-binding memorandum with CATL to explore a larger relationship that could make up the majority of the remaining land.