Ford (F), SK joint venture to receive $9.2B federal loan for EV battery plants

The U.S. department of energy revealed Thursday their intention to loan up to $9.2 billion in federal funds to a joint venture of Ford Motor (F) and SK On to help finance construction of three new battery manufacturing plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.

The government's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program provides the conditional commitment for the low-cost government loan granted to the Blue Oval SK joint venture. The joint venture is building three battery manufacturing facilities in Kentucky and Tennessee. Together, these facilities will have the capacity to produce over 120 gigawatt hours of batteries annually.

According to the department, the construction of these battery plants will result in displacing more than 455 million gallons of gasoline annually throughout the lifespan of vehicles powered by these batteries. This project is also expected to generate approximately 5,000 construction jobs in Tennessee and Kentucky, with an additional 7,500 operational jobs once the plants are in full production.

Last year, the department granted a loan of $2.5 billion to Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture between General Motors Co (NYSE: GM) and LG Energy Solution to help finance construction of new lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan.

Shares of F are down 0.32% in morning trading on Thursday.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]

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