DETROIT—Saying that it wants to control the key technology for electric vehicles, Ford plans to open a battery development center near Detroit by the end of next year. The company said the 200,000-square-foot facility will have equipment to design, test and even do small-scale manufacturing of battery cells and packs. The $185 million lab also will develop electronic controls and other items as Ford moves more of the process in-house. Eventually the company wants to do large-scale manufacturing of its own batteries globally, a task now performed by supply companies. Like many global automakers who have been stung by computer chip and other supply chain shortages, Ford wants to make sure it has enough batteries for what it says is an accelerating transition away from internal combustion engines. Hau Thai-Tang, the company’s chief product and operations officer, said electric vehicles are moving from early adopters to an early majority as …