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Ford accelerates battery R&D with dedicated team and new global battery center

Ford has announced a new global battery center—Ford Ion Park—to accelerate R&D in battery technology.

The Ford Ion Park team is exploring better integration and innovation opportunities across all aspects of the value chain—from mines to recycling—working with all units within Ford, including experts at Ford’s new Battery Benchmarking and Test Laboratory and Customer Service Division, as well as key suppliers and partners.

Meanwhile, a $185-million collaborative learning lab in Southeast Michigan dedicated to developing, testing and building vehicle battery cells and cell arrays is slated to open late next year. This lab will include pilot-scale equipment for electrode, cell and array design and manufacturing, and is expected to pilot new manufacturing techniques that will allow Ford to quickly scale battery cell designs with novel materials once the company vertically integrates battery cells and batteries.

Dane Hardware, Ford Motor Co. design and release engineer, and Mary Fredrick, Ford Motor Co. battery validation engineer, examine internal components like cell arrays, wiring and contactor switches at Ford’s Battery Benchmarking and Test Laboratory in Allen Park, Michigan.

Ford’s new Battery Benchmarking and Test Laboratory in Allen Park, Michigan houses battery cell and pack test rooms, test benches and benchmarking facilities to support battery cell design validation, controls calibration, pack development and pilot battery pack projects with different chemistries. The lab team can replicate the performance of full-scale production batteries under extreme weather and customer use cases, speeding implementation in future vehicles.

“We’re already scaling production of all-electric vehicles around the world as more customers experience and crave the fun-to-drive benefits of EVs with zero emissions,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s Chief Product Platform and Operations Officer. “Investing in more battery R&D ultimately will help us speed the process to deliver more, even better, lower-cost EVs for customers over time.”

Source: Ford

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