Ford Motor Co.
F,
+2.79%
is investing $3.5 billion to build a battery plant in Michigan with help from China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.
300750,
+3.15%,
a win for the auto maker’s home state, which has seen many recent automotive projects head elsewhere. The facility, which will be built in Marshall, Mich., about 100 miles west of Detroit, is expected to create about 2,500 jobs, Ford said Monday. The automaker said a wholly-owned subsidiary would manufacture the battery cells using technology and expertise provided by CATL, the world’s largest maker of batteries for electric vehicles.
Ford is seeking to boost its domestic EV-making supply chain to help it produce 2 million electric vehicles a year globally by the end of 2026. The company has secured about 70% of the battery capacity needed to reach its 2026 goal, it has said. Automakers are working to secure key minerals and build battery factories as they rush to produce more electric vehicles. Financial incentives for North American production of battery cells and materials included in the federal Inflation Reduction Act passed last year has accelerated those efforts, executives and analysts say. Ford considered sites for the battery plant in Mexico and Canada, but ultimately settled on Michigan in part because of the federal subsidies available under the new law, executives said Monday. An expanded version of this story appears on WSJ.com. Popular stories from WSJ.com:
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