Ford has confirmed that it’s halting development of a $3.5 million battery plant in Michigan that the automaker had centered on simply months earlier as a key for EV affordability. 

The plant, close to Marshall, Michigan, was because of create about 2,500 jobs and make lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are usually less expensive to provide than the nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) batteries that Ford presently makes use of in its EVs. When the plant was introduced, in February, Ford mentioned that the plant would make “one of many lowest-cost U.S.-produced batteries.”

That mentioned, the price of producing these cells seems to be on the core of Ford’s resolution to carry off. 

Ford Mustang Mach-E at Tesla Supercharger

“We’re pausing work and limiting spending on development on the Marshall venture whereas we reassess the enterprise resolution, to be assured about our potential to competitively function the plant,” said Ford company spokesperson T.R. Reid, in a response to Inexperienced Automobile Stories late Monday, after information of the halt unfold by way of social media and a report from The Detroit Information. 

“There are a selection of issues,” summed Reid, in the remainder of the assertion to GCR. “We haven’t made any remaining resolution in regards to the deliberate funding.”

Ford wouldn’t say to the Detroit Information whether or not the choice had any connection to the present UAW strike, however on Tuesday, President Biden is because of assist rally placing employees in Michigan. 

Different elements that will have had a task within the resolution along with prices or labor embrace a reliance on China for licensing of the know-how. The plant was, nonetheless, because of be owned and run solely by Ford. 

Ford evaluating NCM and LFP battery varieties

Ford LFP battery advantages

As Ford mentioned on the time of the announcement, LFP batteries boast many benefits. They assist strengthen the provision chain as they put a lighter burden on some high-demand, high-cost supplies, whereas they are often charged from 0-100% each day, and so they’re additionally the popular alternative for bidirectional charging. Alternatively, they are often sluggish to cost in very chilly climate, and so they’re barely heavier than NCM tech. 

Tesla has been placing LFP cells within the Mannequin 3 Commonplace Vary since late 2021, and so they’ve been fairly well-received by house owners. 

Ford LFP product introductions

The choice, Ford summed, was knowledgeable by each automobile use information and bottom-line value, and that LFP batteries had been sure for the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. 

LFP Mach-E deliveries are anticipated to begin later this yr. Whereas base variations of the Tesla Mannequin 3 with LFP cells handle eligibility for the complete $7,500 quantity of the EV tax credit score, variations Ford Mustang Mach-E with a LFP battery pack will qualify for a similar $3,750 EV tax credit score quantity as different present Mach-E Prolonged Vary fashions.