Ford has announced this morning it has struck a deal with China’s CATL for a supply of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for its lineup of electric vehicles (EVs). The deal has also helped the automaker secure enough battery supplies for it to reach its goal of producing 600,000 EVs by the end of 2023.
According to Ford, the LFP battery packs will be added to the Mach-E next year, followed by the F-150 Lightning in early 2024. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Also not disclosed were the exact specs of the batteries and their expected performance in each EV, although LFP offers less range and power compared to the traditional nickel manganese batteries. They also typically about 10% to 15% cheaper.
Ford also announced that they now have enough EV battery supply contracts to meet their target of building up to 600,000 EVs by the end of 2023. They also said they have enough supply to meet 70% of their 2 million EV production rate goal by 2026.
“Ford’s new electric vehicle lineup has generated huge enthusiasm and demand, and now we are putting the industrial system in place to scale quickly. Our Model e team has moved with speed, focus and creativity to secure the battery capacity and raw materials we need to deliver breakthrough EVs for millions of customers,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.
Supporting those figures Ford has also signed direct sourcing deal for battery raw materials. The automaker will be getting its nickel through 2026 from Vale Canada Ltd, PT Vale Indonesia, Huayou Cobalt and BHP.
The company has also signed a contract with Rio Tinto for lithium.
