It is reported that Ford Motor and CATL Battery of the United States plan to jointly build a power battery factory in Michigan, the United States, with an investment of billions of dollars.

On February 11, according to Bloomberg, Reuters and other reports, the long and intense site selection of the lithium iron phosphate battery factory was finally coming to an end.

The factory was finally selected to be built in Marshall, Michigan, with an investment of about 3.5 billion dollars.

It was learned from the relevant person in charge of CATL Battery that "CATL Battery has accepted the  cooperation invitation of Ford Company of the United States and will provide preparation and operation services for its battery factory in Michigan, and license the battery patented technology."

In addition, both parties have also explored a new distribution mode in terms of ownership structure. In this mode, Ford will own 100% of the battery factory, while CATL Battery is only responsible for the production of operating batteries, and its battery manufacturing technology can be retained.

Why is the ownership structure distributed in this way?

It is reported that the United States government issued the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August last year, in which nine tax incentives are based on the premise of production and sales in the United States or North America. Therefore, if the United States enterprises hold 100% of the shares, this restriction can be bypassed, so as to maximize the interests of both parties.

According to the global product plan released by Ford to support the 2023 and 2026 capacity targets, Ford plans to reach the global capacity of 600000 electric vehicles by 2023 and put them into the North American, European and Chinese markets. There are also 30000 new pure electric SUVs built for the European market.

Therefore, it is not difficult to see that the battery with superior performance is undoubtedly the protagonist of this grand production plan.

Ford said, "The lifepo4 battery solution can reduce the dependence on rare metals such as nickel and cobalt, which is also in line with Ford's concept of building a sustainable electric vehicle supply chain."

According to the agreement signed by both parties, from 2023, CATL Battery will supply lithium iron phosphate battery packs for Ford MustangMach-E models in North America, and from the beginning of 2024, provide lithium iron phosphate battery packs for Ford pure electric pickup F-150Lightning in North America.

In addition to vigorously developing the US market, CATL Battery has also considered issuing global depositary receipts (GDRs) in Switzerland, possibly raising $5 billion to $6 billion.

In addition, CATL Battery opened its first factory overseas. The factory is located in Arnstart, Thuringen, Germany. It has been put into operation at the end of January this year, and plans to build six production lines by the end of 2023.

At present, CATL Battery has become a well-deserved leader in the field of new energy. It is not only a leader in the domestic new energy automobile industry, but also a model for Chinese enterprises to explore overseas markets.

However, the development of CATL Battery in the United States is not smooth.

As early as last July, the cooperation with CATL Battery was listed in Ford's plan to purchase batteries and raw materials.

However, due to various measures taken by the Biden government to limit the investment of American companies in China's science and technology field, and other factors, CATL Battery had to postpone the announcement of the progress of opening a battery factory in North America at that time.

Now, the cooperation between the two sides is finally finalized. Through this cooperation, Ford can further improve the battery capacity and introduce new battery technology. CATL Battery also has a new foothold in overseas markets.