Delivering bad news during the holidays is a traditional culture and that’s precisely what Ford is doing by revealing that its battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, will be particularly smaller than originally announced.
As you may recall, Ford revealed its plans for BlueOval Battery Park Michigan earlier this year and the plant will begin generating lithium iron phosphate batteries in 2026. The facility was expected to employ an additional 2,500 people and have a capacity of approximately 35 GWh.
Read more: We’re Not Marshall, Ford Suspends Michigan Battery Plant as UAW Calls for Threat
However, things haven’t gone well since the factory was announced. In addition to issuing a “red alert,” Ford hesitated to “suspend” paintings at the site in September. At the time, a spokesperson said, “We have not made a final determination on the investment there” and the ruling was designed to ensure the company could have “confidence in our ability to operate the plant competitively. “The UAW, which was on strike at the time, called it “shameful, thinly veiled threat. “
Fast-forwarding, Ford revealed that they were “reprogramming and resizing some investments,” Marshall added. While the plant is now progressing and is still scheduled to open in 2026, the planned battery capacity has been reduced from 35 GWh to 20 GWh. In addition, the number of jobs expected to be created has increased from 2,500 to 1,700. These are significant discounts and don’t paint an optimistic picture of Ford EV production.
While the company’s press release doesn’t explain why it pulled out, CNBC quoted Ford’s Mark Truby as saying that the automaker looked at “the demand and expected expansion of electric vehicles, our business plans, our product cycle plans, affordability, and the business to ensure. “”We can make this factory a sustainable business. After comparing all of this, we can now see that we are making progress with the factory, albeit at a slightly shorter length and scope than originally announced.