According to Meng Xiangfeng, vice president of CATL, the battery plant established by Ford and CATL in the U.S. was completed in June and has begun production. It is not a joint venture, but rather a licensing and service model. Ford owns the plant and CATL provides the technology for lithium iron phosphate cells, as well as support for construction and operation.
Ford had originally announced in February 2023 that it would invest $3.5 billion in the Michigan plant. At that time, the planned annual capacity was 35 gigawatt-hours, intended to produce batteries for approximately 400,000 electric vehicles. However, the project was temporarily halted following political pressure. In November 2023, Ford resumed planning, reducing the investment and capacity to $2 billion and 20 gigawatt-hours, respectively.
Part of Capacity intended for Energy Storage
According to Caixin, the core of the LFP project with CATL remains intact. However, based on current plans, some of the capacity will be allocated to energy storage products.
In mid-June, Ford announced that the first prismatic LFP cells had undergone full-scale process testing at the plant. The cells are currently being validated according to CATL specifications. The first vehicle batteries are scheduled to be delivered later this year. They are intended for use in Ford’s affordable and midsize electric pickup models.
Ford also plans to convert an existing plant to produce stationary storage systems based on CATL technology.
Source:
https://cnevpost.com/2026/06/30/ford-catl-backed-battery-plant-completed/
