Ford lands 20 GWh battery deal as US car giant follows Tesla into grid-scale storage

Ford Energy, the newly announced battery energy storage system (BESS) subsidiary of the iconic American car maker has landed its first major storage deal with an agreement to supply up to 20 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

Ford Energy was officially launched last week, as a new standalone energy storage business arm designed to capture the growing demand for stationary battery systems in the US, and make the most of its battery manufacturing capacity that it had built for its now failed electric vehicle strategy.

The first deal announced this week is with France’s EDF Group, and is for up to 4 GWh of utility-scale battery storage a year over five years.

For comparison, Tesla’s well established energy storage division delivered some 46 GWh of storage in 2025, and in Australia, one of its strongest markets, storage revenues trumped EV sales revenue for the second year in a row.

Ford says its DC Block battery setup is designed for utility-scale applications including frequency regulation, voltage support, energy arbitrage, peak load shifting, demand response, backup power, and microgrid integration.

It comes in 20-foot containers each with a rated capacity of 5.45 MWh per unit, and is available in 2 and 4-hour discharge configurations. It uses battery cells supplied by China’s CATL and the first deliveries under this contract will be in 2028.

Morgan Stanley analysts estimate the energy storage division could contribute earnings of $600 million a year to Ford, and will help offset losses in its EV business.

“Today’s announcement reinforces Ford’s positioning as a domestic supplier of BESS. We would believe this is the first of potential several large customer announcements this year,” the analysts wrote in a note to clients.

Morgan Stanley says the surge in interest in battery storage is being driven by the growth of data centres, renewables, to relieve constraints on the grid and as a response to the limited availability of gas turbines.

“From Ford’s perspective, this represents a high growth and margin opportunity to deploy capital. From CATL’s perspective, this represents a high-margin “asset-light” globalization pathway via technology licensing,” they wrote.

Tristan Grimbert, CEO of EDF Power Solutions North America, said supply chain reliability and product quality are paramount for the company.

“Ford Energy’s commitment to domestic manufacturing and its rigorous approach to traceability and lifecycle support align with the standards we hold across our portfolio. This framework agreement gives us the supply visibility and product confidence we need to execute at the pace the energy transition demands.”

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