Ford has begun building a new $3.5 billion battery manufacturing plant in Marshall, Michigan that will produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for its electric vehicles. The move will make the automaker the only OEM that manufactures both LFP and nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) batteries for its EVs domestically in the United States.
The new factory, dubbed Blue Oval Battery Park Michigan, will employ 2,500 workers when it opens in 2026 and will be capable of adding approximately 35 gigawatt-hours of LFP battery capacity to Ford's portfolio. That's enough to power approximately 400,000 electric vehicles. Experts have predicted sourcing enough battery capacity to satisfy electric vehicle demand will be a challenge in the coming years, so more and more automakers are positioning themselves to have control over their supply.
