Ford Boosts Investment in Solid Power, Aiming to Accelerate Solid-State Vehicle Battery Development for Customers - Seite 2

Under the new agreement, Ford will receive full-scale 100 ampere hour (Ah) cells from Solid Power for testing and integration into its future vehicles starting next year. Solid Power already is producing 20 Ah solid-state batteries on a pilot manufacturing line using lithium-ion production processes and equipment.

Ford also has a separate joint development agreement with Solid Power to develop and test its specific battery cell design and help streamline Ford’s integration into future vehicles.

Ford Building EV, Battery Tech Momentum

Earlier this week, Ford announced a new global battery center of excellence – named Ford Ion Park – to accelerate research and development of its battery and battery cell technology – including future battery manufacturing.

Ford is building on nearly two decades of battery expertise by centralizing a cross-functional team of 150 experts in battery technology development, research, manufacturing, planning, purchasing, quality and finance to help Ford more quickly develop and manufacture battery cells and batteries, ultimately aiming to deliver more, even better, lower cost EVs for customers.

The Ford Ion Park team also is exploring better integration and innovation opportunities across all aspects of the value chain – from mines to recycling – working with all teams within Ford, including experts at Ford’s new Battery Benchmarking and Test Laboratory, Ford Customer Service Division, plus key suppliers and partners.

The Ford Ion Park team already is underway. In addition, a $185 million collaborative learning lab in Southeast Michigan that is dedicated to developing, testing and building vehicle battery cells and cell arrays opens late next year.

This world-class 200,000 sq.-ft. learning lab will include pilot-scale equipment for electrode, cell and array design and manufacturing and will use state-of-the-art technology to pilot new manufacturing techniques that will allow Ford to quickly scale breakthrough battery cell designs with novel materials once the company vertically integrates battery cells and batteries.

Committed to leading the EV revolution

Ford is committed to leading the electric vehicle revolution and this year has gained significant momentum on its plans.

In North America, the Ford Mustang Mach-E has found early sales success. Plus, the all-electric Ford Transit is set to go on sale late this year and the all-electric F-150 arrives by mid-2022. Ford will be the first automaker in the U.S. to offer commercial customers fully electric van and full-size pickup choices.