Ford-Umstellung auf Netzbatterien: Der 6 Mrd‑$‑Plan von BlueOval SK

Westliche Automobilhersteller, insbesondere US‑Automobilhersteller, haben Schwierigkeiten, sich an die von Tesla (TSLA ) zunächst weltweit eingeleitete, dann von chinesischen Marken und schließlich von der gesamten Branche vorangetriebene EV‑Revolution anzupassen. Ein Grund dafür ist die Frage des Brandings, da die etablierten Automarken über langjährige Expertise und ein Image verfügen, das eng mit Verbrennungsmotoren verknüpft ist.

Ein weiterer Grund ist die langsame Einführung neuer Technologien und der Versuch, EV‑Technologie in ältere Designs zu pressen. Infolgedessen waren die EVs dieser Marken bei den Verbrauchern relativ unpopulär, was zu erheblichen finanziellen Verlusten führte.

Dies ist der Fall bei Ford, das kürzlich einen Buchwertverlust von 19,5 Mrd. $ verzeichnete, da es den Großteil seiner Investitionen in EVs abgeschrieben hat – ein Verlust in Höhe von 40 % des gesamten Buchwerts des Unternehmens.

Dies ist jedoch kein totaler Verlust, da das Unternehmen seine Batteriekapazität auf einen vielversprechenden neuen Markt ausrichtet: stationäre Energiespeicherung, insbesondere für KI‑Rechenzentren. Diese Investition von 6 Mrd. $ könnte sich auszahlen und das traditionsreiche Automobilunternehmen auch zu einem Energieunternehmen machen.

Ford & EVs – Was ist schiefgelaufen?

Warum der F‑150 Lightning die Marktnachfrage nicht erfüllte

Ford’s best-selling model is the famous F-150, which has not just been Ford’s best product, but America’s best-selling truck for 48 consecutive years and the best-selling vehicle overall for 44 years.

So on paper, it made sense that as Ford looked to transition to EVs, it would focus on what worked best for the company, with the launch of the electric version of the F-150, the Ford F-150 Lightning.

Quelle: Car & Driver

Overall, while many other EV brands in the past had either focused on sport models, luxury models, or small and affordable ones, Ford was going big. An extra advantage to this plan was that the F-150 Lightning sales would help offset the carbon emissions of the rest of the automotive group.

„Analysten schätzen, dass jeder verkaufte F‑150 Lightning Ford ermöglichte, etwa 16 benzinbetriebene F‑150 Trucks zu verkaufen, ohne die Steuer für kraftstoffintensive Fahrzeuge zu zahlen.“

However, a few things went awry.

The first one was that Ford struggled to get production of the F-150 Lightning going, with multiple delays making it not the expected first large electric truck, but arriving on the market after Rivian and GMC’s own electric pickups.

But the death blow came from the consumers. It appeared quickly to all participants that electric pickup trucks were just not what they wanted.

Poor towing range damaged the image of these trucks, which are expected to do a lot more heavy lifting than most EVs. It is also clear that the demographic that loved the F-150 was also one of the most hostile to EVs in general, making it a poor match to the model’s branding and market position.

The final nail in the coffin was when the Trump administration canceled the EV tax credit at the end of September, and removed the emissions credit system, further worsening the economics of the truck and removing the incentive of selling F-150 Lightnings to compensate for the other Ford models.

„US‑EV‑Verkäufe haben nie die Erwartungen erfüllt. Das galt sogar, solange die Steuervergünstigung noch bestand. Jetzt gibt es keine Steuervergünstigung mehr, und die EV‑Verkäufe sind von einer sprichwörtlichen Klippe gefallen.“

Pavel Molchanov – Managing director at financial services firm Raymond James. 
Ford will also keep up its EV ambitions in Europe, especially with its new line of all-electric heavy-duty trucks.

Neue EV‑Strategie

As a result, the company is redirecting its automaking strategy toward fuel and hybrid vehicles instead of large EVs.

It will also use its flexible Universal EV Platform for its remaining line of pure EVs, with smaller & affordable models. The first model is slated to be priced at about $30,000 and go on sale in 2027.

„Dies ist ein kundengetriebener Wandel, um ein stärkeres, widerstandsfähigeres und profitableres Ford zu schaffen. Die operative Realität hat sich geändert, und wir verlagern Kapital in wachstumsstärkere Möglichkeiten mit höherer Rendite: Ford Pro, unsere marktführenden Lkw und Vans, Hybride und margenstarke Chancen wie unser neues Batteriespeicher‑Geschäft.“

Ford president and CEO Jim Farley
This is not to say that Ford will completely give up on electric pick-up trucks, but the strategy now is to answer the problem of limited range by not relying solely on batteries.

Instead, Ford will use Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV) technology, which uses a small fuel-powered generator to reload the battery, increasing range while still keeping all the benefits of electric motors’ superior torque and acceleration.

Redesigning EV Battery Factories

Letting Go Of The Past

The pivot hits particularly hard in the southeastern U.S. Battery Belt, where Ford had invested in multi-billion-dollar Blue Origin plants to produce batteries and electric vehicles.

The EV battery facility in Glendale, Kentucky, will lay off about 1,600 employees, and local outlet the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that a Ford factory in Tennessee will hire around 1,000 fewer workers than previously planned, now that it is making gas trucks instead of electric ones.

The biggest change is Ford’s “$6 billion pivot” concerning the BlueOval SK joint venture it had made with the South Korean battery conglomerate SK On (096770.KS).

The partnership will be dissolved, the subsidiary Ford Energy will take full ownership and liability for the two plants in Glendale, Kentucky, and will assume approximately $3.8 billion in debt held by the joint venture.

Meanwhile, SK On will fully own and operate the Tennessee battery plant.

„Diese Vereinbarung ist ein strategischer Umbau von Vermögenswerten und Produktionskapazität, um die operative Effizienz zu steigern. Wir werden uns darauf konzentrieren, die Rentabilität auf dem nordamerikanischen Markt zu stärken, indem wir Batterien und ESS für Elektrofahrzeuge an Ford und andere Kunden aus dem 45‑GWh‑Werk in Tennessee liefern.“

Quelle: KED Global

This situation is not unique to Ford, as LG Energy Solution is also moving to sell “all assets related to L-H Battery Company” to its partner Honda.

Moving To Energy Storage

Ford is investing an additional $2B over the next two years to retool the Kentucky facilities for its battery production to be used for energy storage instead. The factory will produce LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells for BESS modules (Battery Energy Storage System) and 20-foot DC container systems.

The average energy storage system out of this factory is expected in the 5 MWh+  range. Ford currently plans to deploy at least 20 GWh annually by late 2027.

This represents a logical shift for the company, as the market for energy storage in North America is exploding. In 2025, it grew at an astonishing more than 60% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from 40 GWh to 65–70 GWh.

This is also one of the only logical steps to use the already built facilities and still turn a profit.

„Sie haben die Batteriefertigungskapazität aufgebaut und müssen jetzt etwas damit anfangen. Während die EV‑Nachfrage stagniert, steigen die US‑Energiespeicher‑Installationen rasant.“

Fortschrittliche Batterietechnologie

The technology for the batteries will be one of the most advanced on earth, as Ford is licensing it from the global battery leader CATL (300750.SZ – follow the link for an investment report on CATL).

This is important, as energy storage is a different sector, but no less competitive than automotive manufacturing, and the determining factor is the combination of costs and the battery chemistry used.

CATL’s TENER containerized fixed energy storage technology is currently one of the world’s most advanced, having demonstrated the world’s first five-year zero degradation energy storage system, with 6.25MWh capacity.

No capacity degradation over years of charge-discharge cycle is a massive improvement for utility applications, as it means the battery system can be amortized over decades, instead of mere 8-10 years like previous generations of batteries, making it functionally 2- 3x cheaper.

So the same technology licensed to Ford could give the automaker a definitive edge against its competitors, including new energy leaders like Tesla, which

It should, however, be noted that CATL is recently moving some of its energy storage activity to NAXTRA, a sodium-ion-based chemistry, even if the design is primarily aimed at EV applications.

But in any case, Ford’s close relationshipwith CATL should prove instrumental in the automaker staying at theedgeof battery technology, without having to spend massive R&D budgets to re-invent the wheel.

Investing In Ford’s Move Into Energy Storage

The recent $19.5B write-down was certainly a disappointment for Ford’s shareholders, who had hoped for the F-150 Lightning to be the backbone of the company’s successful transition to the EV era.

At the same time, it did not radically affect the company’s stock price, as its sales of fuel-powered vehicles are holding on.

Its internal combustion engine sales are steady, with an almost unchanged number between Februar 2026 and the same month in 2025 (around 136,000 vehicles in the month), and make up 90% of total sales. The company F series is also holding well, making up 33% of total sales, and whose sales are up 8.3% in 2025.

Another supportive element was the company marking $187.3B in revenue in 2025 and the 5th consecutive year of revenue growth, with a U.S. market share of 13.2%. As a result, the company is financially solid, with a strong cash balance, and a >4% dividend yield supported by enough free cash flow.

Quelle: Ford

The move into the energy storage system could prove a valuable and unexpected diversification for the automotive company that has always been naturally exposed to the cyclical nature of its industry.

The AI boom and its gigawatt-scale data centers are ongoing, and the trend of electrification and higher renewable capacity in the energy mix means that demand for stationary, utility-scale batteries will only go up in the upcoming years. This will be especially true as energy availability at peak consumption hours is becoming the most critical resource for both AI data centers and utility companies.

So the new activity could prove a solid extra revenue stream for the company in case of a recession or weakening consumer sentiment.

CATL’s LFP technology is now a mature, well-understood technology whose battery’s chemistry allows for decades-long stability in a wide range of temperatures with virtually no capacity loss, making it a perfect match for utility-scale applications.

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