The Electric: Ford Tries to Allay Supply Chain Worries, but Some Are Skeptical

Amid an acute shortage of key metals for electric vehicle batteries, Ford wants to show that it has assured its needed supplies. But many of its key deals are a lot less than certain. 

In a call with analysts and reporters on Thursday, Ford announced a slew of signed and potential supply chain deals—negotiations for nickel from Indonesia, a contract for cheap iron-based battery packs from China, and plans for its own chemical manufacturing plant in the U.S. Lisa Drake, Ford’s vice president for EV industrialization, said that by the end of next year the company will have enough batteries to equip 600,000 EVs annually—22 times as many as it sold last year. Longer term, she said, Ford has a path to obtaining 70% of the nickel, cobalt, lithium and other materials required to equip some 2 million EVs a year by late 2026, the number it expects to sell by then.