Ford ups investment in solid-state battery maker
Ford Motor Co. has announced it is increasing its investment in a producer of solid-state batteries, yet another move in the automaker’s push to establish a sustainable supply of the components needed to power a coming wave of electric vehicles.
The Dearborn automaker joins German automaker BMW AG in contributing to a
$130 million funding round in Solid Power, a Colorado-based battery maker. Ford initially invested in the company in 2019. The latest investments make Ford and BMW equal equity owners; representatives from both companies will join Solid Power’s board.
The move announced Monday, according to Ford, is aimed at accelerating the development of solid-state battery technology, an emerging development that industry experts and leaders believe has the potential to reduce the cost of EVs and improve their battery range. Solid-state batteries are seen as a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries.
“Solid-state battery technology is important to the future of electric vehicles, and that’s why we’re investing in it directly as well as accelerating Ford’s inhouse R&D on next-generation battery technology,” Hau ThaiTang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer, said in a statement.
The move comes on the heels of Ford announcing last week that it will build a $185 million, 200,000-square-foot global battery center — dubbed Ford Ion Park — somewhere in southeast Michigan. There, some 150 experts in battery technology development, research, manufacturing, planning, purchasing, quality and finance will work on projects aimed at speeding up Ford’s research and development of battery and battery cell technology.
Company officials said the Ion Park team’s work could support Ford one day manufacturing its own battery cells and batteries. The team will develop, test and build battery cells and cell arrays, focusing on lithiumion batteries but looking also at solid-state technology. The centre is slated to open late next year.
Thai-Tang, in announcing Ion Park, said Ford is at a point in its path to electrification where it makes sense to bring in-house some production of parts needed for electric vehicles.
But the automaker must maintain some flexibility as expensive battery technologies continue to evolve, he said: “Recognizing that capital intensity, we want to make sure that if the technology shifts from lithium ion to solid state that we can re-use as much of that manufacturing process and other capitalintensive assets as possible.”
“We’re working very closely with many solid-state startup companies,” he said. “We are talking to everyone. We have a very good understanding of the potential, in terms of energy and power density, as well as cost. So the thing that’s at the forefront of our consideration is, is that solid-state technology something that can scale up to true automotive uses?”
Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst at Guidehouse Insights, explained that the expense required to build the lithium-ion batteries that are used in many of today’s electric vehicles may prompt some automakers to figure out ways to stretch their investments to cover development and production of solid-state batteries. Automakers such as Ford may look for ways to optimize the production process and repurpose equipment.