The US Energy Department said it will lend $9.2 billion to Ford and SK‘s joint venture, BlueOval SK, which produces batteries.
The loan will enable the construction of three new EV battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Together, the plants, one located in Tennessee and two in Kentucky, will enable more than 120 gigawatt hours of US battery production annually and displace more than 455 million gallons of gasoline per year for the lifetime of the vehicles powered by these batteries. The overall project is expected to create a total of approximately 5,000 constructions jobs in Tennessee and Kentucky, and 7,500 operations jobs once the plants are up and running.
BlueOval SK is a joint venture between Ford and South Korean battery maker SK ON.
The Department of Energy said the effort supports President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing of technologies that are critical to reaching the clean energy and transportation future.
Expanding domestic production of American-made batteries is seen as critical to reaching the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals to have EVs represent at least 50% of all new car sales in the US by 2030, reach net-zero electricity by 2035 and a net-zero economy by 2050.
