(JW Insights) Jul 25 -- CATL, the world's largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer, claims its project with Ford Motor in Michigan is moving along as normal despite news about a US investigation, Yicai Global reported on July 24.

Progress on the project is smooth, Chinanews.Com reported the same day, citing employees of the Ningde-based firm.

Reuters reported on July 22 that two committees of the US House of Representatives said on July 21 that they are investigating the partnership between the American carmaker and the Chinese battery firm.

In February, Ford announced that it will cooperate with CATL to invest $3.5 billion to build a battery plant using CATL's technologies. Production is expected to start in 2026.

The automaker said it is still waiting for guidance from the US Department of the Treasury to ensure that the partnership complies with the requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act. The act stipulates that car batteries that are produced or assembled by a "foreign entity of concern" may not be eligible for tax credits.

Several hundred workers out of the planned 2,500 would be dispatched by CATL from China to install and maintain equipment of the plant, per Reuters. Still, Ford said it will own and operate the factory instead of building battery plants elsewhere like its competitors or importing lithium iron phosphate batteries from China, said the Yicai Global report.

(Yuan XY/Gao J)