Share with friends and circles of friends with wechat scanning QR code < / P > < p > < p > on July 22, local time on Thursday, the U.S. automaker Ford said it would purchase lithium iron phosphate batteries from Ningde times, which would first be used in electric pickup SUVs sold in the North American market

Ford is establishing a broader cooperative relationship with Ningde times and has reached a series of exclusive agreements to ensure the supply of automotive batteries and raw materials for the company in the next decade

Lisa Drake, vice president of Ford, said that the company plans to build a new lithium iron phosphate battery plant with a total capacity of 40gwh in North America from 2026. Drake would not disclose whether the factory was built by Ningde era. In May this year, it was reported that Ningde times was looking for a suitable place to produce electric vehicle batteries in the United States to serve automakers such as Ford and BMW

Ford decided to use lithium iron phosphate batteries in the best-selling electric vehicles in the North American market, which shows that it is worth sacrificing part of the mileage for the lower price batteries. Ford said that the lithium iron phosphate battery can reduce the material cost by 10% to 15%. Some low-cost model 3 electric vehicles sold by Tesla in the U.S. market have begun to use lithium iron phosphate batteries. Rivian, an electric pickup truck and truck manufacturer, also said that it plans to use lithium iron phosphate batteries

Drake said that Ford hoped to obtain more batteries and raw materials from North America, but he warned: "I can't say that we have 100% confidence. Although all these can be localized... It's a hard work."

Ford said that the company also reached an agreement with Ningde times to explore the use of Ningde times batteries in all Ford vehicles sold in the United States, Europe and China

Ningde Times said in a statement that "the two companies plan to use their respective advantages to jointly explore new business opportunities worldwide", involving the lithium iron phosphate era and other battery technologies

the agreement reached with Ningde times shows that Ford is accelerating its efforts to ensure battery capacity and raw material supply through various ways. Ford had previously reached an agreement to explore the purchase of lithium from Rio Tinto, an Australian mining giant, and nickel from Vale's subsidiaries in Canada and Indonesia, Huayou cobalt and BHP Billiton

some projects involving metal raw materials may not be put into production until the second half of this century. The agreement reached by Ford with Rio Tinto and the US compass mining company involves the so-called direct lithium refining technology, which has not yet achieved commercial mass production

investors are generally worried that the supply of battery materials and battery manufacturing capacity will not keep up with the demand for electric vehicles, resulting in supply shortages for some automobile manufacturers in the last few years of the 2020s

Ford said that in order to achieve the goal of manufacturing more than 2million electric vehicles worldwide by the end of 2026, it has purchased about 70% of the battery capacity

Ford decided to use lithium iron phosphate battery made by Ningde era on Mustang mach-e from next year, and use this battery on F-150 lightning in 2024. This not only marks a major victory in the business of Ningde era, but also marks the strategic transformation of Ford in the U.S. market

compared with similar batteries using nickel and cobalt, lithium iron phosphate batteries usually have a shorter mileage. Until recently, automakers insisted on using more expensive nickel cobalt chemical batteries for electric vehicles sold in the U.S. market. In the U.S. electric vehicle market, longer range is a key competitive indicator

Drake said in a conference call on Thursday, "we know that the price of battery materials is the decisive factor in this competition", "lithium iron phosphate battery will minimize the cost"

low cost batteries can make Ford lower the price of F-150 lightning and Mustang mach-e, or improve the profit margin

Ford said that the company aims to achieve a pre tax profit margin of 8% for electric vehicles by 2026. Ford admitted that its electric vehicle business is not yet profitable. It should be clear that even if Ford achieves a profit margin of 8%, it is lower than Tesla's operating profit margin of 14.6% in the second quarter of this year

Ford aims to increase the global annual output of electric vehicles to 600000 by the end of 2023 and more than 2million by the end of 2026. The company predicts that the compound annual growth rate of its electric vehicle business will exceed 90% in 2026, which is more than twice the growth rate predicted by the industry < p > in March this year, Ford raised its spending plan in the field of electric vehicles from $30billion to $50billion by the end of 2026, and reorganized its business into two independent departments focusing on electric vehicles and fuel vehicles respectively

in addition to Ningde era, Ford also has cooperative relations with LG energy solutions and SK innovation, a long-term battery partner. (Chenchen)