Ford to Bring Electric Vehicle Battery Design In-House

DETROIT- Ford Motor Co. said yesterday it isinvesting $450 million in production facilities where it will build hybrids,electric vehicles, and electric vehicle batteries.

The announcement, made at the NorthAmerican International Auto Show (NAIAS) here, will bring Ford's investmentin hybrids and electrics to nearly $1 billion in the past year,

"It's a major development for our company, our community,and our country," noted Ford chairman William Clay Ford, addressing reportersat Ford's NAIAS booth.

The news is significant because it solidifies Ford's recentannouncements about electric vehicles. The company had already invested $550million in the past year to transform its Michigan assembly plant from a large SUVfactory to a production site where it will build the all-new Ford Focus and theFocus Electric.

Going forward, Ford said it will bring four hybrids andelectric vehicles to its lineup in the next three years: the Ford TransitConnect battery electric vehicle (2010); the Ford Focus Electric passenger car(2011); an unnamed hybrid car based on Ford's C-platform (2012); an unnamedplug-in hybrid in 2012.

Equally important is Ford's announcement that it will bringEV battery systems design and development in house. In its facilities, Fordwill design advanced lithium-ion batteries in house and will move production ofthe battery packs from Mexicoto Michigan.Ford says that the new engineering and production efforts will create up to1,000 new jobs in Michigan.

"We believe battery systems development is going to be acore competency for Ford in the 21^st century," Ford said.

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