Lightning Strikes: Trade Secrets Could Hamper Fire Investigation

Alert readers may recall a series of hiccups that have befallen the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning so far this year, including a battery fire in a truck that was parked in a holding pen near company facilities. Ford is obviously working feverishly to fix any problems. One roadblock on the road to repair might involve words this author rarely gets to type: Industrial espionage.

That’s an act, of course, which involves companies stealing trade secrets from each other in order to use them for their own benefit (and profit). While it sounds like something from a Bond flick, this type of spying is a big concern for some outfits – especially ones sitting on the bleeding edge of technology. If a particular supplier holds a bunch of secrets for a critical part without which a vehicle cannot be built, it could be susceptible to espionage as well. What does all this have to do with the Lightning? According to rumblings in certain corners of the internet (which should always be taken with hefty grains of salt) Ford and one of its battery partners, called SK On of Korea, are at loggerheads over how much access Dearborn should have to SK On’s production line while trying to find and fix the issue which led to the fire. There are mutterings suggesting those holding the reins (and security keys) at SK On don’t want Ford pawing too much through their plant lest they learn too much and decide to make batteries on their own – hence the rumors about concerns over industrial espionage.

Here's another twist: Ford and SK have already broken ground on an EV battery factory in Kentucky, one with a scheduled completion date of 2024. The combined effort is overseen by an outfit called BlueOval SK and the Kentucky plant is nicknamed BOSK1. There are plans for a BOSK2 in Tennessee and a BOSK3 somewhere else in the country.

In other words, these two companies are already deeply in bed with each other but may be acting as if they don’t trust each other yet with a joint bank account. Complicating this issue is a report suggesting the tiff is strong enough that ‘ didn]key Ford executives’ didn’t attend the aforementioned groundbreaking for BOSK1. Present were SK Group Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, SK On President Jee Dong-seob, BlueOval SK CEO David Hahm, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Perhaps suits at Ford had the day off.

[image: Ford]

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