Ford secures battery supply to build 600,000 EVs a year by ’23

Bloomberg

Ford Motor Co says it has secured enough battery supply to build more than half a million electric vehicles (EVs) annually by late next year, a quantum leap above the 27,140 battery-powered cars it sold in the US last year.
The automaker has signed contracts with suppliers representing 60 gigawatt hours of annual battery capacity, enough to build 600,000 EVs a year, it said in a statement. Those suppliers include China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co, or CATL, as Bloomberg previously
reported.
Ford also said it has secured 70% of the battery capacity it needs to build more than 2 million EVs annually starting in 2026, which helps meet a goal Chief Executive Officer Jim
Farley set in March.
Securing enough batteries to build millions of plug-in models has become a key competitive battleground in the emerging EV market. General Motors Co. has established a partnership with South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd. to build battery plants in the US. Ford already has a joint venture with South Korea’s SK Innovation Co. to spend $11.4 billion on three battery factories and an EV assembly plant in Tennessee and Kentucky.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said it sees EV demand worldwide growing by more than 90% annually through 2026, more than double current industry forecasts.
Ford will begin using less expensive lithium iron phosphate battery packs on its Mustang Mach-E models next year and F-150 Lightning pickups in early 2024, which will boost output of those popular vehicles. Ford said it has a plan to source 40 gigawatt hours of those batteries annually in North America in 2026.
Farley is racing to catch EV leader Tesla Inc. as the automaker pours $50 billion into its EV expansion strategy through 2026. Ford also is preparing to cut as many as 8,000 jobs in the coming weeks to boost profits and help fund its EV ambitions, according to people familiar with the plan, Bloomberg reported.
Ford said that by late next year, it expects to be building 270,000 Mustang Mach-Es annually, 150,000 F-150 Lightning models, 150,000 Transit EV commercial vans and 30,000 units of a new electric SUV for Europe that will “significantly ramp” in 2024.