Ford Motor Company is pressing ahead with construction on its $3 billion electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Marshall, Michigan, even as federal lawmakers debate changes to EV tax credits and battery production credits.
The BlueOval Battery Park Michigan facility, which will produce lithium-iron phosphate batteries using technology licensed from China’s CATL, is now 60% complete. Production is expected to begin in 2026, bringing approximately 1,700 new jobs to the region. Ford has said that the decision to use CATL’s cost-effective battery chemistry was essential to making EVs more affordable and to ensuring the plant could compete with global manufacturing hubs.
But the long-term viability of the project could be in question, as the current federal budget proposal would repeal key elements of the Inflation Reduction Act, including both consumer EV tax credits and battery production credits.
Ford executives have responded with a coordinated campaign to preserve the credits. Vice President Lisa Drake recently led media tours of the construction site, highlighting the factory’s economic potential and warning that eliminating the production tax credit could jeopardize the company’s investment.
In addition to its public statements, Ford is actively lobbying lawmakers in Washington. The company has emphasized that the Senate budget draft has already softened some of the proposed restrictions, and it remains hopeful that more workable language will emerge as House and Senate negotiators move toward finalizing the bill.
