A partnership between Ford and South Korea’s SK On will get a $9.2 billion loan from a U.S. Department of Energy program to help construct three electric-vehicle battery plants in what’s the biggest loan in the department’s history.
The BlueOval SK venture is already building the plants in Kentucky and Tennessee, which together are designed to produce in excess of 120 gigawatt hours per year.
The loan is part of the Biden administration’s push to establish more EV supplies sourcing and manufacturing in North America in order to reduce dependence on the now dominant Chinese market and to reduce harmful emissions that contribute to global warming.
The legacy automaker has so far lost money on its EV business and expects about $3 billion in losses for the unit this year. But it also expects EV sales to eclipse those of its gas-powered models and for EVs to overtake its lineup in Europe by next decade.
Ford plans to dramatically scale its EV production to pump out up to 2 million units by 2026, and battery supply is a big piece of that effort.
