Ford retreats from EVs after Michigan spends big on subsidies for battery plants

  • Ford Motor Co. cut back its aggressive EV plan on Monday.
  • After years of losses — including $13 billion over two years — it will make fewer and cheaper EVs while expanding gas models and hybrids.
  • It also will start an energy storage division, and plans to make household devices alongside some EV batteries at its new factory in Marshall.

A planned battery factory in Marshall that Michigan taxpayers are heavily subsidizing will dramatically shift production, after Ford Motor Co. drastically downsized its electric vehicle ambitions Monday.

The planned $3.5 billion BlueOval Battery Park Michigan in Marshall now plans to produce residential batteries, as the automaker is canceling production of larger, more expensive EVs — including the F-150 Lightning, produced at the Rouge complex in Dearborn — because of losses, grim sales forecasts and regulatory changes.

After years of struggling to profit from EVs, Ford will record a $19.5 billion hit in the fourth quarter from its investments in the technology. The manufacturer lost $13 billion on EVs since 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported…

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