SoftBank Shares Slide After Arm Earnings Miss Fuels Tech Stock Sell-Off 
Gold Prices Slide Below $5,000 as Strong Dollar and Central Bank Outlook Weigh on Metals 
Washington Post Publisher Will Lewis Steps Down After Layoffs 
South Korea’s Weak Won Struggles as Retail Investors Pour Money Into U.S. Stocks 
Japan Economy Poised for Q4 2025 Growth as Investment and Consumption Hold Firm 
Silver Prices Plunge in Asian Trade as Dollar Strength Triggers Fresh Precious Metals Sell-Off 
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering 
Bank of Japan Signals Readiness for Near-Term Rate Hike as Inflation Nears Target 
SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates 
Global Markets Slide as AI, Crypto, and Precious Metals Face Heightened Volatility 
Asian Stocks Slip as Tech Rout Deepens, Japan Steadies Ahead of Election 
Gold and Silver Prices Rebound After Volatile Week Triggered by Fed Nomination 
CK Hutchison Launches Arbitration After Panama Court Revokes Canal Port Licences 
Thailand Inflation Remains Negative for 10th Straight Month in January 
Missouri Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Starbucks’ Diversity and Inclusion Policies 
Alphabet’s Massive AI Spending Surge Signals Confidence in Google’s Growth Engine 
Prudential Financial Reports Higher Q4 Profit on Strong Underwriting and Investment Gains 
Ford Motor is the latest company to reveal its plans about making its own batteries for electric cars. Based on the reports, the American automaker based in Detroit has intentions of developing lithium-ion batteries for its EVs.
Ford preparing to enter the battery-making game
This type of battery is now considered an important part of the production of electric cars; thus, more and more companies are getting into the battery-making market. Many carmakers are moving away from gas-powered vehicles and slowly shifting to electric ones, and it is not just a trend, but it is an effort to curb gas emissions that are harming the planet as well.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Ford Motor announced its plans to open a development center for batteries. The company is setting aside $185 million for this facility that will rise in Michigan.
Once the center starts operating, and the projects are successful, Ford’s chief product and operations officer, Hau Thai-Tang, said that they will eventually proceed to produce their own battery cells. It is hoped that the battery development facility will be completed next year. The executive disclosed this plan during a press briefing on Tuesday, April 27.
The planned facility
Since Ford welcomed Jim Farley as its new chief executive officer last fall, it has laid out a more aggressive plan to boost sales and everything else. Apparently, moving into batteries is also part of the agenda.
As per The Washington Post, the company will build a 200,000-square-foot facility and will be equipped with tools for designing, testing, and manufacturing of battery packs and cells, and of course, they will start with small-scale battery production.
It was said that as Ford continues to explore what more it can do, the soon-to-open center will also develop electronic controls and other items. Once they successfully developed these technologies, the automaker will then proceed to go full-scale production, but CNBC noted that Ford will not be a full battery cell production facility like what Tesla and GM are planning to do.
"We now see that the market is going to develop very quickly, and we will have sufficient scale to justify having greater levels of integration," Thai-Tang said regarding Ford’s venture into battery-making. "We will no longer take an approach of hedging our bets and planning around the uncertainty of how fast that will play out.
