Ford-CATL Michigan battery plant nears inauguration

Ford Motor’s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan is moving from a politically contested announcement to a factory preparing for production. Ford has said the Marshall, Michigan, site remains on track to begin making lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, battery cells in 2026, and recent company and local development updates show equipment work, hiring and site construction advancing. Ford announced the project in February 2023 as a $3.5 billion investment tied to licensed technology from China’s CATL, the world’s largest EV battery maker. The plant is wholly owned by Ford, not a joint venture, and the company has said it will use the site to supply lower-cost batteries for future vehicles and, more recently, energy-storage products. ### How close is the Marshall plant to opening? Ford said in a recent company update that production of LFP battery cells at BlueOval Battery Park Michigan is still expected to start in 2026. The same update said battery-cell production equipment is already operating at an equipment supplier’s off-site location, where Ford is making C-sample cells and training workers before the machinery is installed in Marshall. (fromtheroad.ford.com) Choose Marshall, the local economic-development group backing the MAJOR Campus where the plant is being built, said the facility is expected to begin producing batteries in 2026. Its construction page said work is “in full swing,” with hundreds of workers on and around the site and activity expected to ramp further. ### What exactly is Ford building there? (fromtheroad.ford.com) Ford said in 2023 that the Marshall site would manufacture LFP battery cells, a chemistry the company described as lower-cost than nickel cobalt manganese cells and useful for broadening EV affordability. The company called the plant its first U.S. site dedicated to that chemistry and said initial plans called for 2,500 jobs. (choosemarshall.com) In a later update, Ford scaled the project back. The company said the facility would create more than 1,700 jobs and produce roughly 20 gigawatt-hours of annual capacity, while still aiming to be Ford’s first battery plant of this kind when production starts in 2026. Reuters reported in July 2024 that Michigan reduced the project’s incentive package after Ford lowered expected output to match EV demand. (fromtheroad.ford.com) ### Where does CATL fit if Ford owns the plant? Ford said from the start that BlueOval Battery Park Michigan would be a wholly owned Ford subsidiary, while CATL would license battery technology and provide technical know-how. CNBC, citing Ford, reported in February 2023 that Ford declined to disclose the financial terms of the licensing agreement. (fromtheroad.ford.com) Republican lawmakers have repeatedly challenged that arrangement. Reuters reported in September 2023 that three House committee chairs demanded documents tied to Ford’s CATL partnership and threatened to call Chief Executive Jim Farley to testify. In January 2026, Representative John Moolenaar renewed scrutiny, asking Ford about whether its CATL licensing agreement had changed as the company expanded into energy storage, according to a Reuters report carried by U.S. (fromtheroad.ford.com) News. ### Why has the plant become more important to Ford’s broader plans? Ford said in August 2024 that the Marshall plant would also produce smaller amp-hour cells for residential energy-storage systems. On May 11, 2026, Ford formally introduced Ford Energy, a battery-storage business whose operations include battery-cell manufacturing, module assembly and containerized storage systems for utilities, data centers and industrial customers. (marketscreener.com) Ford said its flagship Ford Energy DC block uses 512 amp-hour LFP prismatic cells. The company did not say in that announcement that all of those cells would come from Marshall immediately, but the timing links the Michigan LFP plant more directly to Ford’s non-vehicle battery business. That connection is also reflected in Moolenaar’s January letter, which referred to Ford’s plans for data-center batteries using CATL technology. (fromtheroad.ford.com) ### What has the project meant in Marshall so far? Marshall-area development officials said the project is already affecting the local economy before production starts. Choose Marshall said hundreds of construction workers have been visiting local businesses and restaurants, and the group has tied the site to new infrastructure, including water, wastewater and fire-protection investments around the MAJOR Campus. (fromtheroad.ford.com) MAEDA, the local development alliance, said in April that Ford’s project is recruiting for leadership positions and will create about 1,700 local jobs. The group also said the city of Marshall is expected to receive more than $2 million a year in new revenue once the plant is running. ### What comes next before the plant is fully operating? (choosemarshall.com) Ford’s next visible milestones are equipment installation, commissioning and hiring ahead of the 2026 production start the company continues to target. The careers page for BlueOval Battery Park Michigan lists technical, maintenance and operations roles, while local officials say recruitment is underway. In 2027, Ford said it also expects to repurpose a Kentucky battery plant to produce LFP cells and large-scale battery energy storage systems, making Marshall the earlier test of whether its U.S.-based, CATL-licensed battery strategy can supply both vehicles and grid products. (choosemarshall.com) (corporate.ford.com) (careers.ford.com)