SK On-Ford Motor venture breaks ground on EV battery plant in Kentucky

Industry

Published: 06 Dec. 2022, 09:57 Updated: 06 Dec. 2022, 10:25

SK On-Ford Motor venture breaks ground on EV battery plant in Kentucky

From left to right, Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, BlueOval SK CEO David Hahm, SK On CEO Jee Dong-seob, SK Group Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, Liliana Ramirez, Ford's Global Director of Workforce Development, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Dave Nowicki, Ford Director of Manufacturing, EV Programs; and Lisa Slaven, Hardin County Schools Transition Readiness Director, stand for a photo at the groundbreaking ceremony of BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, Kentucky, on Dec. 5. [YONHAP]

Korean battery maker SK On said Tuesday its joint venture with Ford Motor has broken ground on an electric vehicle battery plant in the U.S. state of Kentucky.

The project is part of the $11.4 billion investment the two companies announced in September last year to build two EV battery manufacturing facilities in Kentucky and a third one in Tennessee.

The groundbreaking ceremony in Glendale on Monday drew some 400 state and business leaders, including SK Group Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, SK On President Jee Dong-seob, BlueOval SK CEO David Hahm and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

"Over the next two years, BlueOval SK will build the biggest and most advanced plants for EV batteries, and Kentucky will become a vital center for the future of clean mobility," Chey said.

"Ford's roots run deep in Kentucky, and BlueOval SK is going to help Ford to lead the EV revolution, bringing thousands of new, high-tech jobs to the Bluegrass State," said Lisa Drake, vice president of Ford EV Industrialization.

The Kentucky battery plants, once completed, aim to produce up to 86 gigawatt hours annually, churning out batteries powering Ford and Lincoln EVs starting in the first quarter of 2025 following trial runs.

The third plant, to be built in Stanton, Tennessee, will break ground within this year, aiming to produce 43 gigawatt hours per year from 2025.

Altogether, BlueOval SK's battery plants will amount to 129 gigawatt hours annually, enough to power about 1.2 million units of the Ford F-150 Lightning EV pickups.

SK On, the batterymaking unit of Korea's SK Group, is expected to tout an annual production of 150 gigawatt hours in the United States alone in 2025, along with its two other standalone EV battery plants in operation and under construction in Georgia.

Yonhap