The Department of Energy closed a nearly $10 billion loan for a Ford Motor Co.-linked electric vehicle project Monday, marking a major win for EV advocates in the final weeks of the Biden administration.
The BlueOval SK project, a joint venture between Ford and South Korean battery manufacturer SK On, is the largest DOE loan finalized by the Biden team by far.
Three battery plants — one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky — aim to produce 120 gigawatt-hours of batteries annually to power Ford EVs. The deal is the latest in a recent blitz at the DOE Loan Programs Office.
“Today’s announcement reinforces President Biden’s historic efforts to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing and ensure American businesses remain global leaders in technologies of the future,” the LPO said in a press release. “Expanding domestic production of American-made batteries is critical to reducing America’s reliance on adversarial foreign nations like China.”
