Ford Battery Joint Venture Receives $9.2 Billion Treasury Loan

Ford Motor and its battery manufacturing partner will receive a $9.2 billion loan to build three battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee, the Department of Energy said Thursday. The loan would be the largest financial commitment the Biden administration has made in its effort to build an electric vehicle manufacturing network in the United States.

The loan will go to a joint venture set up by Ford and its partner SK On called BlueOval SK, which will supply batteries for Ford and Lincoln electric cars and trucks. The plants, one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky, will employ 7,500 people and will be among the largest such plants built by auto and battery companies nationwide, especially in the Southern states.

President Biden aims to have half of new cars sold in the United States be electric by the end of the decade, up from about 7 percent in the first three months of this year. By helping to fund battery factories, the government hopes to ensure that the United States does not become dependent on China for batteries and their components. The government also hopes that the new factories will compensate for the loss of jobs in conventional car manufacturing.

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