“This can be a huge deal,” stated Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer in a press conference unveiling plans for the manufacturing unit. Increasing battery choices will enable Ford to “construct extra EVs quicker, and finally make them extra reasonably priced,” stated Invoice Ford, Ford’s govt chair.
Also referred to as lithium ferrous phosphate (LFP) batteries, the sort to be produced on the new plant are a lower-cost different to the nickel- and cobalt-containing batteries utilized in most electrical automobiles within the US and Europe in the present day. Whereas the expertise has grown in reputation in China, Ford’s manufacturing unit, developed in partnership with the Chinese language battery large CATL, marks a milestone within the West. By reducing prices whereas additionally boosting charging pace and increasing lifetime, LFP batteries may assist develop EV choices for drivers.
Lithium-ion batteries all comprise lithium, which helps retailer cost in part of the battery known as the cathode. However lithium doesn’t do that job alone: it’s joined within the cathode by a supporting solid of different supplies.
The commonest sort of cathode utilized in automobiles in the present day comprises nickel, manganese, and cobalt along with lithium. Some automakers, like Tesla, use one other cathode chemistry made with nickel, cobalt, and aluminum. Each these cathode varieties have risen to prominence partially as a result of they’ve excessive vitality density, which means the batteries shall be smaller and lighter than others that may retailer the identical quantity of vitality.
Whereas these two was once the default selections for cathodes in EV batteries, lithium iron phosphate, an older chemistry, has seen a comeback previously few years, largely pushed by large progress in China.
These iron-containing batteries are typically about 20% cheaper than different lithium-ion batteries with the identical capability in the present day. That is partly as a result of LFP doesn’t comprise cobalt or nickel, costly metals which have seen large 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 particularly harmful working conditions.
Making cathodes with out cobalt and nickel may assist automakers lower prices, and a few have already begun to shift battery chemistry utilized in automobiles bought within the US. Tesla imports LFP cells from China in the present day for some fashions, together with its Mannequin 3. Ford previously announced that it will begin utilizing the expertise in its Mach-E in 2023 and within the F-150 Lightning in 2024.
With its newly introduced manufacturing unit, Ford would grow to be the primary automaker to supply LFP batteries within the US. The brand new facility, which can use expertise from CATL, may assist kick-start LFP manufacturing within the US extra broadly. “It’s a pivotal level for the North American manufacturing panorama,” says Evelina Stoikou, a battery expertise analyst at BloombergNEF, an energy-focused analysis agency.
