Ford Motor Company and SK Innovation plan to invest $11.4 billion in the US electric vehicle and battery sector— including three dedicated battery plants with a combined 129GWh capacity.
The money is earmarked for sites in the US states of Kentucky and Tennessee as Ford looks to secure a supply of batteries for its North American assembly plants.
Ford will be investing $7 billion of the overall cash boost into US manufacturing, with the South Korean firm SK Innovation delivering the rest of the funding.
The plants are due to begin coming online in 2025 to supply batteries for next-generation electric Ford and Lincoln vehicles.
A $5.6 billion 3,600-acre mega campus in Tennessee called Blue Oval City, will “reimagine” how vehicles and batteries are made and include a battery plant called BlueOvalSK and an assembly plant.
It is believed the battery manufacturing capacity of the Tennessee plant will be 43GWh.
Kentucky battery plant
In central Kentucky, $5.8 billion has been made available to build a 1,500-acre dedicated battery-manufacturing complex called the BlueOvalSK Battery Park.
Twin co-located plants at the site will be capable of producing up to 43GWh each for a total of 86GWh annually.
Ford estimates it will need 140GWh battery supply to meet its manufacturing demand.
