Asian Tech Press (Dec 8) -- American automaker Ford Motor Co (F: NYSE) said it aims to become the world's second-largest electric vehicle maker by increasing its annual production capacity to 600,000 units within two years.

To achieve that goal, Ford has selected five EV battery suppliers around the world.

Lisa Drake, chief operating officer of Ford North America, said at an investor conference on Friday that Ford will keep working with five EV battery suppliers, including China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) and BYD, South Korea's SK On and LG Energy Solution, as well as Japan's Panasonic, aiming to build 240 gigawatt-hours of production capacity globally by 2030.

This is the first time that Ford has confirmed to the public that Chinese EV battery maker CATL has become a supplier of power batteries for Ford vehicles. And the claim was also confirmed by Ford China.

"CATL has already started supplying to us," a Ford China executive told Chinese media reporters on Tuesday.

And CATL said, "Subject to the caliber of the customer."