Ford has taken a major step toward moving its electric vehicle (EV) battery production in-house, with the announcement of Ford Ion Park.

Ford Ion Park is the company’s facility dedicated to pioneering various methods of battery production. The project will bring together a cross-functional team of 150 experts to help address the entire scope of battery production, from mining to development to manufacturing to recycling.

Like most manufacturers, Ford is leaning heavily into hybrid and EV development, and taking a more hands-on approach to its battery development will give it a competitive advantage over some of its rivals.

“We’re already scaling production of all-electric vehicles around the world as more customers experience and crave the fun-to-drive benefits of electric vehicles with zero emissions,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s chief product platform and operations officer. “Investing in more battery R&D ultimately will help us speed the process to deliver more, even better, lower cost EVs for customers over time.”

“We are creating new tools and solutions we need for a carbon-free, affordable and better future,” Thai-Tang added. “We are modernizing Ford’s battery development and manufacturing capabilities so we can better control costs and production variables in-house and scale production around the world with speed and quality.”

The 200,000 square-foot lab is in Southeast Michigan, with the team already underway. An additional $185 million collaborative learning lab will also be build in the area, “dedicated to developing, testing and building vehicle battery cells and cell arrays opens late next year.”