Ford Increases Investment In Solid-State Battery Startup, Solid Power

Ford (F) is ramping up its investment in solid-state battery technology, seen as the future of the electric vehicle industry. The automaker has confirmed a new round of equity investment in Solid Power, a leading producer of solid-state batteries.

Ford’s investment will go a long way toward accelerating the solid-state vehicle battery technology that Solid Power is working on. With the new investment, Ford becomes an equal partner with BMW (BMWYY) in Solid Power. Both Ford and BMW will appoint representatives to the Solid Power Board. The two will independently test Solid Power’s battery technology and see how best it can be integrated into their future electric vehicles.

Ford is set to receive a batch of 100 ampere hour (AH) cells from Solid Power to test for use in its future electric vehicles. In the long run, Ford hopes the technology will enable it to deliver long-range and low-cost electric vehicles to its customers. (See Ford stock analysis on TipRanks)

“Leveraging the speed of a startup and the expertise of some of the most seasoned battery experts in the world at Ford, we’re exploring different ways to power tomorrow’s fun-to-drive all-electric vehicles, using proven development and manufacturing processes.” said Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer, Hau Thai-Tang.

Ford is increasingly investing in solid-state batteries, as they are superior in many ways to lithium-ion batteries. They don’t use the liquid electrolytes found in lithium-ion batteries, and they are lighter, cost less, and have greater energy density and a longer range.

This investment comes on the heels of Ford reporting impressive 1Q results, depicted by record EBIT of $4.8 billion. Credit Suisse analyst Dan Levy has since reiterated a Buy rating on the stock.

Levy stated, “We expect the stock to outperform near-term; indeed, we believe [Ford CEO] Jim Farley will drive incremental urgency and accountability at Ford.”

The analyst also increased the price target to $13 from $12, implying 11.78% upside potential to current levels.

Consensus among analysts on Wall Street is that Ford is a Moderate Buy based on 9 Buy, 6 Hold, and 1 Sell rating. The average analyst price target of $13.41 implies 15.31% upside potential to current levels.

Ford scores a 9 out of 10 on TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, implying it is likely to outperform market expectations.