Ford’s EV setback gets repackaged as a battery-storage bet, lifting the stock amid a 55% surge

Ford Motor Co.’s stock has surged roughly 55% over the past year, a run-up that Wall Street has increasingly tied to the company’s new push into battery energy storage. The rally comes after Ford previously wrote down much of its electric vehicle roadmap, a move that was meant to reset the business rather than continue a straight-line investment schedule into EVs.

In late 2025, Ford disclosed it expected about $19.5 billion in “special items” tied to EV-related decisions, along with an estimated $5.5 billion in cash effects. The company framed the charge as part of a broader Ford+ capital redeployment, shifting resources toward hybrids, trucks and vans, and a battery energy storage business. The aim was to improve profitability over the following years, with earlier signs expected to show up in 2026. (F-150 Lightning plans were also adjusted as part of the reset.)

In the months since, Ford has tried to convert its EV manufacturing and battery experience into a different, less consumer-facing business model. According to Ford’s own description of the plan, it would launch battery energy storage system (BESS) offerings by leveraging existing U.S. capacity and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology, targeting 20 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of annual capacity and beginning BESS shipments in 2027.

The latest market spark appears tied to Ford’s energy unit, often described in coverage as “Ford Energy.” Ford announced a five-year framework agreement with EDF power solutions North America that would allow EDF to procure up to 4 GWh of DC Block BESS each year, for a potential total of up to 20 GWh over the agreement. Deliveries under the framework are expected to begin in 2028, according to the companies’ announcement.

The EDF framework also included specifications for the systems, including that the BESS uses 512 Ah lithium iron phosphate prismatic cells and is offered in two-hour and four-hour discharge configurations. It is designed for grid-scale use cases such as supporting utilities and energy infrastructure, and the deal reinforces Ford’s message that data centers and electricity demand growth are creating a new demand pool for large-scale storage.

Still, Ford’s vehicle business has not returned to easy momentum. In the same period that investors have focused on the energy-storage story, coverage highlighted that April vehicle sales fell 14% year over year. That slowdown was attributed to a mix of macro and operating factors, including tariff impacts and disruption tied to aluminum availability, while first-quarter results were said to have been boosted by one-time tariff reimbursements.

The key question for the next phase of the stock’s run is whether Ford Energy can prove it has repeatable economics, not just headline contracts. A major caveat is timing: even if storage demand is real, Ford previously positioned its storage effort as a build-out that would take time before it meaningfully contributes to financial results. More detail on deal economics, margins, and the pace of shipments will likely matter more to investors than the headline capacity numbers alone.