Ford Battery Plant Clears Hurdle With Tax Credit Win
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Ford Motor Co. no longer believes jobs or investment are at risk at the battery plant it’s building in Michigan after President Donald Trump’s $3.4 trillion fiscal bill passed with fewer restrictions on production tax credits critical to the financial viability of the factory.
The automaker said in a statement July 8 that the battery facility in Marshall, Mich., is “on track to qualify for the production tax credit.” A company spokesperson said the $3 billion facility is on schedule to open next year and will ultimately employ 1,700 workers as the company had projected when it downsized the project in late 2023.
Executive Chair Bill Ford warned in May that the battery plant was “imperiled” by language in the bill that would have prevented the automaker from licensing technology from China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. because it was deemed a “foreign entity of concern.” But when the legislation reached the U.S. Senate, those restrictions were softened and that version of the bill was signed into law by Trump on July 4.
Ford intends to use the lower-cost lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries to be built at the Marshall plant to make more affordable electric vehicles starting under $30,000 that are due to arrive in 2027. The high cost of EVs is an impediment to mainstream acceptance of battery-powered vehicles.
China dominates production of LFP batteries, and Ford contends that licensing technology from CATL will help it catch up faster with Chinese EV makers. Ford wholly owns and controls the Marshall plant, which it says would be the first in the U.S. to make LFP cells for automotive applications.
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