Ford is planning to open a battery development center near Detroit by the end of 2022 according to a report published by IANS. The American carmaker says that it wants to control the key technology for electric vehicles and the 2,00,000 sq.ft. will be equipped to design, test, and even for small manufacturing of battery cells and packs. The lab will also be used to develop electronic controls and other items and Ford is planning to move its operations in-house.
Going ahead, the company wants to manufacture its battery packs on a large scale in a bid to make sure that enough batteries are manufactured to accelerate the transition from conventional combustion engines to electric vehicles. “We now see that the market is going to develop very quickly, and we will have sufficient scale to justify having greater levels of integration. We will no longer take an approach of hedging our bets and planning around the uncertainty of how fast that will play out,” Hua Thai-Tang, Chief Product and Operations Officer- Ford told IANS.
The move comes at a time when the global auto industry is racing to control supplies including precious metals needed to make batteries and individual cells that form big battery packs to run as many as 300 new electric models coming out in the next two years. Ford’s new CEO – Jim Farley plans to take a turn from Ford’s previous path of buying technology and batteries from supply companies. That said, the company is still open to join hands with suppliers, universities and start-ups for the technology.
Ford has already discussed the transition to battery power with the Biden administration. The company is already in a trade secret fight with its battery suppliers like SK Innovation, and LG Energy Solution. The U.S. International Trade Commission decided in February that SK stole 22 trade secrets from LG Energy and so it should be barred from importing, making or selling batteries in the United States for 10 years. So the decision gave SK four years to make batteries for Ford. SK is in contract with Ford to make batteries for an electric version of Ford’s F-150 pickup, the nation’s top-selling vehicle. The dispute was settled earlier this month when SK Innovation agreed to pay $1.8 billion along with an undisclosed royalty.