The U.S. Department of Energy has approved a loan of up to 9.63 billion dollars to battery manufacturer BlueOval SK. The money will be used to build three battery factories in the US states of Tennessee and Kentucky. BlueOval is a joint venture by Ford Motor Company and Korean battery manufacturer SK On and will produce batteries for Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles.
Total capacity of 120 gigawatt-hours
Two of the factories will be built at the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, Kentucky. Together, they are expected to supply more than 80 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity per year. Another factory will be called “BlueOval City” and will be built in Stanton, Tennessee. This facility is set to reach a production capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours. According to the company, production at all three sites is scheduled to start in 2025. The plants are expected to create 7,500 permanent jobs, with about 5,000 in Kentucky and 2,500 in Tennessee.
Expanding domestic battery production
The US governmentʼs goal with this funding is to expand domestic battery production and reduce dependence on imports, particularly from China. At the same time, the project supports the Biden administrationʼs climate policy, which aims to achieve a 50-percent share of zero-emission new vehicles by 2030.
