NEW YORK: Ford is halting work on a significant battery plant within the northern US state of Michigan, the automaker mentioned on Monday (Sep 25), simply seven months after launching the challenge with a Chinese language companion.
The stoppage, which a Ford consultant confirmed to AFP, comes as the corporate faces a significant strike together with each of the opposite “Massive Three” US automakers, Stellantis and Basic Motors.
The Ford spokesperson insisted the choice in regards to the US$3.5 billion battery plant had not been associated to the continuing strike, however somewhat the location’s future financial viability.
“We’re pausing work and limiting spending on building on the Marshall challenge till we’re assured about our capacity to competitively function the plant,” the spokesperson mentioned.
“We have not made any ultimate resolution in regards to the deliberate funding there,” he added.
In February, Ford introduced the challenge in Marshall, Michigan as a strategy to diversify its battery profile away from its present unique use of nickel cobalt manganese (NCM), which is expensive to supply due to uncooked materials shortage.
Ford mentioned it will work with the Chinese language firm Modern Amperex Know-how to fabricate lithium iron phosphate batteries starting in 2026 on the Marshall plant.
A number of Republican officers had voiced opposition to the plant because of the partnership with a Chinese language firm.
The expertise includes inexpensive uncooked supplies and may tolerate extra frequent and sooner charging than NCM batteries, the corporate mentioned on the time.
The auto big mentioned it’s concentrating on an annual international output of 600,000 electrical automobiles by end-2023 and two million by the top of 2026.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, touted the announcement in February as “one other win for Michigan,” citing the addition of two,500 new manufacturing jobs.