Ford announces battery pack producer for the Focus Electric

Ford Motor Company has announced that the battery packs that will be fitted in the Ford Focus Electric, set to go on sale in the U.S. in 2011, will be produced by Compact Power, Inc. (CPI), a subsidiary of LG Chem.

“CPI is an emerging leader in the lithium-ion battery field and we are pleased to have them as a strategic supplier as we prepare to bring the Ford Focus Electric to market,” said Sherif Marakby, Ford director, Sustainable Mobility Products and Hybrid programs.

The battery pack assembly for the Ford Focus Electric will start next year by CPI, with the lithium-ion cells for the packs initially being sourced from Korea through LG Chem. LG Chem and CPI will be localizing cell production in a new site in Holland, Michigan.

“We are very excited to be partnering with Ford on their new battery electric-powered Ford Focus,” said Prabhakar Patil, CEO of CPI. “It tells us we are on track in developing high-power and high-energy lithium-ion batteries that the industry needs as it moves toward the electrification of vehicles that lessen our dependence on foreign oil.”

The Focus Electric is one of the five electrified vehicles Ford is bringing to market in the U.S. in the next two years and will have a targeted range of up to 100 miles when fully charge and will have zero CO2 emissions.

The Michigan assembly Plant in Wayne will be the location of the production of the full battery electric Focus, the same site that will start producing the gasoline versions of the all-new 2011 Focus later this year.

Ford has already announced an investment of 550 million dollars to transform the Michigan Plant from a large SUV factory to a modern car plant. Besides being responsible for the production of the new Focus and Focus Electric this plant will also produce the next-generation hybrid and a plug-in hybrid in 2012.