Due to a lawsuit between LG and SK Innovation Ford's electric F-150 battery supply is in danger, but Tesla wisely avoided a similar issue through complex contracts with battery producers and is working on its Roadrunner project aimed at making its own Tesla batteries for its electric cars globally.
Paul Posse, Torque News Tesla reporter, explains.
"I'll go over a bit of Tesla's history to give context to the news that a legal dispute between the South Korean giant, Lucky Gold (LG), and SK Innovation could seriously impact Ford's plans to produce an all-electric pickup in 2022. Then I'll explain how Tesla avoids this same issue."
Fosse says "Ford (and Volkswagen) have contracted with SK Innovation last year to supply the batteries for it's 2022 Electric F-150. LG Chem has filed a lawsuit seeking to bar SK Innovation from building or importing components to make the cells. Can't Ford just switch suppliers?
"Well, if they plan to just make a token number of trucks (like 10,000 a year), I'm sure they can, but since each manufacturer has different specs, they would probably need to delay the product to adjust the design.
"it is still an open question if Ford's famously loyal individual customers will buy the shockingly different Tesla CyberTruck, even if its capabilities are vastly superior, but business customers will be forced to investigate the product since it's dramatically lower costs will make them uncompetitive if they don't transition to the new technology as fast as their competitor's do.
"Ford hoped to offer a great electric pickup (without Tesla's wild styling) to stem the flow to business customers eager to cut fuel and maintenance costs. The legal battle may endanger Ford's plans and leave them without any defense to Tesla's CyberTruck advance."
Armen Hareyan is the founder and the Editor in Chief of Torque News. He founded TorqueNews.com in 2010, which since then has been publishing expert news and analysis about the automotive industry. He can be reached at Torque News Twitter, Facebok, Linkedin and Youtube.
