Jennifer Shaigec, CEO of Sandpiper Trading, said Ford plans to use Chinese battery maker CATL’s technology to produce energy storage batteries at its Kentucky facility, citing comments from Ford CEO Jim Farley.
"Ford also has an increasingly close partnership with CATL in the US where it has hatched plans to turn out CATL batteries for energy storage rather than EVs at a Kentucky plant," said Shaigec.
An X post by JennyManyDots, the online alias of Shaigec, referenced a December statement from Farley and detailed Ford’s strategy to implement CATL technology at its Kentucky plant. The post was part of a broader discussion about global capital flows and Chinese investment.
According to Electrive, Kentucky’s BlueOval SK Battery Park represents a $5.8 billion investment anticipated to create approximately 5,000 jobs. The facility comprises two plants with a combined annual capacity of 86 gigawatt-hours aimed at supplying Ford’s North American assembly lines. Ford intends to repurpose the Glendale facility for energy storage systems using licensed CATL lithium iron phosphate technology after concluding its joint venture with SK On. State support has concentrated on maintaining employment levels amid shifts in electric vehicle (EV) demand.
The Council on Strategic Risks reported that the United States imports nearly three-quarters of its lithium-ion batteries from China, increasing reliance on graphite and other minerals which heightens vulnerabilities in the EV sector. China provides over 50% of U.S. demand for 21 critical minerals. BYD and CATL are identified as foreign entities of concern due to connections with the Chinese Communist Party, restricting their eligibility for federal subsidies.
Shaigec began her career on TC Energy’s Calgary trading floor in 1998, building expertise in energy markets and commodity trading. She later worked as a Commodity Specialist for CommonStock, where she shared insights on metals and macro trends with an expanding investor community before its acquisition by Yahoo Finance. Currently, she leads Sandpiper Trading, which functions as both a research firm and family fund focused exclusively on small-cap resource equities, consistently achieving strong returns since its inception.
