Ford launches Ford Energy with a DC block BESS targeting 20 GWh of US battery storage a year
Ford on May 11 announced Ford Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary backed by roughly $2 billion that will build a 20-foot containerized BESS at a repurposed Kentucky plant, with first customer deliveries in late 2027.
Overview
Ford Motor Company has launched Ford Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary that will build utility-scale battery energy storage systems at a repurposed Kentucky plant and ship its first units to customers in late 2027, according to Electrek. The new business is backed by roughly $2 billion of investment over the next two years and targets at least 20 GWh of annual deployment, as reported by pv magazine.
The new business repurposes electric-vehicle battery manufacturing capacity at Ford’s Kentucky plant for stationary storage, pv magazine reports. Ford Energy will sell to utilities, data centers, and large industrial and commercial customers across the United States, WardsAuto reports.
What We Know
The flagship product is called the Ford Energy DC block, a standardized 20-foot containerized battery energy storage system built around 512 amp-hour lithium iron phosphate prismatic cells, according to ESS News. It is offered in two configurations: the FE-250, a two-hour system, and the FE-450, a four-hour system, per pv magazine. Both units use liquid-cooled thermal management with an integrated battery management system and are designed for a 20-year service life, Automotive Manufacturing Solutions reports.
Electrek puts each rated unit at 5.45 MWh, with an operating window of -35°C to +55°C and a DC voltage range of 1,040 to 1,500 volts. Ford Energy is selling the DC block as a building block for projects of 5 MWh or larger, pv magazine notes.
Lisa Drake, who was appointed President of Ford Energy in January, reports directly to Ford Vice Chair John Lawler, WardsAuto reports. “Ford Energy allows us to maximize the value of our battery manufacturing capabilities. We’re building a business focused first on utility-scale battery energy storage systems for large customers while also offering battery cells for residential energy storage solutions,” Drake said on launch day. Lawler, in the same announcement, said: “Lisa has deep expertise in scaling complex industrial systems and securing critical supply chains. Her leadership is essential as we stand up Ford Energy to capture the growing demand for reliable battery energy storage that supports grid stability and resilience for utilities and large energy users.”
Drake has been framing the business around long-term bankability, arguing that “U.S. demand for dispatchable, bankable energy storage is accelerating” and that “Utilities and developers need storage systems they can finance, insure and depend on for decades.” She added that customers “need suppliers who will be there in year 10 to honor a warranty claim,” WardsAuto reports.
Manufacturing will be anchored at Ford’s 1,500-acre Glendale, Kentucky plant, DBusiness reports, with the site running full battery cell manufacturing, electrode coil production, and module and container assembly. WardsAuto reports that Ford plans to hire roughly 2,100 workers at the Kentucky plant. A second site at the BlueOval Battery Park in Marshall, Michigan, will produce smaller amp-hour cells for residential energy storage, ESS News reports.
What We Don’t Know
Neither Ford nor any of the launch-week coverage has named anchor customers for the DC block, and pricing per kWh has not been disclosed. The company has not said how it will route Kentucky output between utility offtakers, hyperscale data-center buyers, and independent power producers — all of which it lists as target segments, per Automotive Manufacturing Solutions. Late-2027 first deliveries also leave open whether Ford Energy will hit its full 20 GWh annual cadence in its first year of production or ramp into it gradually.
Analysis
Ford’s pivot lands in a US grid-storage market that is already moving fast. Developers are on track to add roughly 24 GW of new utility-scale battery storage this year, up from 15 GW installed in 2025, Electrek reports. The Machine Herald previously reported that California’s battery fleet discharged a record 12.3 GW into the evening peak this month, with installed storage in that state alone topping 16 GW — a sign of how quickly the addressable market is expanding for a domestic BESS supplier.
Ford’s positioning is explicitly different from a fast-deployment, cell-agnostic integrator. It owns the cell line, the module line, the container line, and the warranty, and Drake’s pitch leans on those as the durable moat — that buyers committing to 20-year projects want a vendor who will still be in business in year 10, per WardsAuto. The 512 Ah LFP cell sits at the larger end of what’s now standard in stationary storage, and the two-hour and four-hour configurations are tuned for the duration most US grids are buying for under current interconnection economics.
The launch mirrors initiatives by Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, and General Motors that have taken EV battery know-how into stationary storage, but Ford’s specific bet is that a US-assembled, US-supplied product can win in a market increasingly shaped by domestic content rules and tariff exposure on imported cells.