Vehicle OEM Ford has confirmed its global battery centre— Ford Ion Park— will be in Michigan, US.
The centre will help the company accelerate its research and development of battery and battery cell technology – including future battery manufacturing.
Ford Ion Park represents $100 million of Ford’s $185 million investment in developing, testing and building vehicle battery cells and cell arrays.
Ford will refurbish an existing 270,000 sq.-ft. facility to house up to 200 engineers and pilot-scale equipment for electrode, cell and array design and manufacturing engineering and innovation.
The plant is due to open next year.
The laboratory will use state-of-the-art technology to pilot new manufacturing techniques that will allow Ford to research and quickly scale breakthrough battery cell designs with novel materials as part of its plan to vertically integrate battery cells and batteries.
It is part of the company’s $30 billion investment in electrification of its fleet by 2025, and a renewed commitment to making Michigan a centerpiece of its EV focus.
Anand Sankaran, Ford Ion Park director, said: “The new lab will help Ford speed up the battery development process to deliver even more capable, affordable batteries and is part of Ford’s renewed commitment to making Michigan a centerpiece of its focus on EVs.”
From mines to recycling, the Ford Ion Park team will work with experts across the company, including experts at Ford’s previously announced Battery Benchmarking and Test Laboratory, Ford Customer Service Division, plus key suppliers and partners.
In 2010, Ford committed to making Michigan its center of excellence for electric vehicles and chose the lab’s Romulus location with collaboration and expedited tech sharing in mind.