Listen Now: An Electric Boost

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Michigan is getting a little electric. I’m Brian Banmiller on Business.

Earlier this week, Ford announced its plans to build a $3.5 billion factory in Michigan. The plant will focus on making lower-cost batteries for new and existing electric vehicles. And it plans to employ at least 2,500 people. The plant, to be built about 100 miles from Detroit, will start making batteries in three years. It will focus on a lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry which is cheaper to produce than  batteries currently on the market. Ford officials say this will allow customers to choose between a battery with lower range and cost or pay more for higher range and power. They haven’t given any indication on how much each will set customers back. Ford officials say the whole idea is to make electric vehicles more affordable for everyone. They say these types of cheaper batteries are already in use in some consumer electronics but all those batteries are imported. This will keep the technology and the jobs in the United states. And hopefully for Ford’s bottom line, put more electric vehicles on the road. Brian Banmiller, CBS News. 

About Brian

CBS News Radio national business journalist Brian Banmiller has spent more than 40 years in the news industry, covering business, politics and the economy on television, radio and in print. Currently, his “Banmiller on Business” reports are delivered to an audience of millions nationwide.