"The Detroit auto giant said on Monday it would pull back from electric vehicles in a move that would cost the company $19.5 billion. In addition to scrapping planned electric models and building more hybrids, Ford said it would repurpose its EV battery factory in Kentucky to build batteries to power data centers and energy infrastructure. The Mustang maker added that it would invest $2 billion to scale the new energy storage business, which it said would "leverage currently underutilized electric vehicle battery capacity.""
"It comes as the race to build ever more powerful AI models fuels a data center boom across the US, putting pressure on the electricity grid. Federal estimates suggest data center power demand is expected to as much as triple over the next three years, as tech giants like Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI pour tens of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure. EVs, meanwhile, are heading in the other direction."
Ford is shifting from an EV-focused strategy and will take a $19.5 billion charge while scrapping planned electric models and building more hybrids. The company will repurpose its Glendale, Kentucky EV battery factory to produce commercial batteries and energy storage systems for AI data centers and energy infrastructure. Ford will invest $2 billion to scale the energy storage business and plans to deploy at least 20 gigawatt-hours of storage by the end of 2027. The move targets rising data center electricity demand tied to rapid AI infrastructure expansion while leveraging underutilized EV battery capacity and positioning Ford to compete with Tesla's energy storage business.
Read at Business Insider
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