The chief executive of Ford believes more electric vehicle batteries need to be produced in the U.S.
While speaking at the recent Wolfe Research Auto Conference, Jim Farley suggested that the United States needs to reduce its reliance on batteries made in Asia in order to avoid a battery shortage akin to the ongoing semiconductor shortage.
“We need to bring large-scale battery production to the U.S., and we’ll be talking to the government about,” Farley said, as reported by Auto News. “We can’t go through what we’re doing with chips right now with Taiwan. It’s just too important.”
One of Ford’s forthcoming EVs, the F-150 electric pickup truck, will use batteries from Korea’s SK Innovation and while the carmaker will remain reliant on overseas batteries in the coming years, Farley said it is important for the U.S. to in-source battery production to resolve supply and labor issues that may impact the industry’s rollout of electric vehicles.
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“This is a huge, multi-solution opportunity,” he added. “For legacy players, we have to deal with our labor issues, so more in-sourcing is more important to us.”
Ford’s current Mustang Mach-E features battery cells from LG Chem.
While Ford acknowledges the importance of manufacturing batteries in the United States, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is interested in bringing battery production in-house. In fact, ex-Ford chief executive Jim Hackett said last year that it didn’t make sense for the automaker to create its own battery factory.
“The supply chain has ramped up since Elon built his Gigafactory, and so there’s plenty there that does not warrant us to migrate our capital into owning our own factory. There’s no advantage in the ownership in terms of cost or sourcing,” he said, reports Auto News.
