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Amid Ford\u2019s shift away from making large electric vehicles<\/a>, the automaker is adding a new product line to find a home for its batteries. <\/p>\n Ford said Monday that instead of scuttling plans\u00a0to build\u00a0the\u00a0batteries\u00a0for those vehicles, it will pivot that\u00a0capacity into\u00a0a new battery storage business. Those storage systems, which will use cheaper lithium iron phosphate batteries, will be used to power data centers and help buffer demand on the electric grid.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ford says the battery storage systems will start shipping in 2027 and that the company plans to build 20GWh of annual capacity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ford will invest about $2 billion into the new business over the next two years. Under the plan, Ford will repurpose the existing manufacturing capacity at its Kentucky factory. Ford plans to produce LFP batteries\u00a0using technology licensed from China\u2019s CATL, as well as battery energy storage system modules and 20-foot DC container systems at this facility.<\/p>\n Ford\u00a0will join a\u00a0number of\u00a0automakers that are operating\u00a0in or planning to enter the battery storage space.\u00a0Tesla\u00a0has spent the last decade selling battery storage products\u00a0and deploys around 10GWh every quarter.\u00a0General Motors also has a set of\u00a0home\u00a0and commercial\u00a0battery storage products<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lisa Drake, vice president of technology platform programs and EV systems at Ford, said the\u00a0\u201cpredominant\u201d opportunity for the new business will be commercial grid customers. But data centers\u00a0will be secondary, and then\u00a0Ford expects to offer some home storage products, Drake said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was clear when we went out to the market that the technology of choice for most of these customers was an LFP prismatic type of container system,\u201d Drake said during a call with reporters. \u201cAnd given the fact that we already had a license to build that technology in the U.S., you couple that with our manufacturing experience over a century of high-scale manufacturing, it just made a lot of sense as a natural adjacency for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span> Ford\u2019s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan in Marshall, which is slated to begin production of LFP batteries in 2026, is still on track, the company said. Those LFP batteries, which also use CATL tech, will be used in Ford\u2019s upcoming mid-sized electric truck. There will be one adjustment at the Michigan factory, however. Ford said it will also be used to make smaller Amp-hour cells for use in \u201cresidential energy storage solutions,\u201d suggesting that Ford\u2019s plan will go beyond commercial customers.<\/p>\n The BlueOval Battery Park Michigan has gone through several iterations in its abbreviated life. In February 2023, Ford said it would invest $3.5 billion<\/a> to build the factory to make LFP batteries for its growing portfolio of electric vehicles. Ford abruptly halted construction<\/a> on the factory in September 2023. Two months later, it announced a dialed-back plan<\/a> with a production capacity of 20 gigawatt-hours, about 43% smaller than planned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n