“This is a big deal,” stated Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer in a press convention unveiling plans for the manufacturing unit. Expanding battery choices will enable Ford to “build more EVs faster, and ultimately make them more affordable,” stated Bill Ford, Ford’s government chair.
Also often known as lithium ferrous phosphate (LFP) batteries, the kind to be produced on the new plant are a lower-cost different to the nickel- and cobalt-containing batteries utilized in most electrical autos within the US and Europe right now. While the know-how has grown in recognition in China, Ford’s manufacturing unit, developed in partnership with the Chinese battery big CATL, marks a milestone within the West. By chopping prices whereas additionally boosting charging pace and lengthening lifetime, LFP batteries may assist increase EV choices for drivers.
Lithium-ion batteries all include lithium, which helps retailer cost in part of the battery known as the cathode. But lithium doesn’t do that job alone: it’s joined within the cathode by a supporting solid of different supplies.
The most typical form of cathode utilized in autos right now comprises nickel, manganese, and cobalt along with lithium. Some automakers, like Tesla, use one other cathode chemistry made with nickel, cobalt, and aluminum. Both these cathode varieties have risen to prominence partly as a result of they’ve excessive vitality density, which means the batteries can be smaller and lighter than others that may retailer the identical quantity of vitality.
While these two was the default selections for cathodes in EV batteries, lithium iron phosphate, an older chemistry, has seen a comeback up to now few years, largely pushed by big development in China.
These iron-containing batteries are typically about 20% cheaper than different lithium-ion batteries with the identical capability right now. This is partly as a result of LFP doesn’t include cobalt or nickel, costly metals which have seen big worth swings in recent times. Battery makers are additionally working to cut back cobalt content material as a result of mining the metallic has been tied to significantly dangerous working situations.
Making cathodes with out cobalt and nickel may assist automakers minimize prices, and a few have already begun to shift battery chemistry utilized in autos bought within the US. Tesla imports LFP cells from China right now for some fashions, together with its Model 3. Ford beforehand introduced that it might begin utilizing the know-how in its Mach-E in 2023 and within the F-150 Lightning in 2024.
With its newly introduced manufacturing unit, Ford would turn out to be the primary automaker to provide LFP batteries within the US. The new facility, which is able to use know-how from CATL, may assist kick-start LFP manufacturing within the US extra broadly. “It’s a pivotal point for the North American manufacturing landscape,” says Evelina Stoikou, a battery know-how analyst at BloombergNEF, an energy-focused analysis agency.