SK on-Ford JV breaks ground for EV battery plant in US

Ground-breaking ceremony in Glendale, Kentucky [Courtesy of SK on]

BlueOval SK, the joint venture between SK on and Ford Motor Company, has broken ground for electric vehicle battery manufacturing facilities with an annual 86GWh production capacity in Kentucky, which would be the largest EV battery plant in the United States.

The ground-breaking ceremony in Glendale, Kentucky on Monday (local time) was attended by some 400 state and business leaders, including SK on Executive Vice Chairman Chey Jae-won, SK on President Jee Dong-seob, BlueOval SK CEO David Hahm, Ford’s Global Director of Workforce Development Liliana Ramirez and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

BlueOval SK plans to build two battery factories with 43GWh each on a 6.28 million square meter site in Glendale, Kentucky. Once completed, mass production of battery cells will begin in the first quarter of 2025.

Back in May of last year, SK on and Ford announced a 10.2 trillion won ($7.82 billion) plan to build two EV battery facilities in Kentucky and a third one in Tennessee with a combined annual capacity of 129GWh, enough to power about 1.2 million units of Ford F-150 Lightning EV pickups.

The third plant on a 15.53 million square meter site will break ground within this year, aiming to produce 43GWh per year from 2025.

SK on and Ford aim to create about 10,000 jobs in the mid- to long-term through their joint venture.

SK on, the battery-making unit of South Korea’s No. 2 conglomerate SK Group, is ranked fifth in the global battery market with a 6.2 percent share this year.

According to market research firm SNE Research, SK on’s battery usage came to 5.4GWh in the North American market from January to October of this year, up 646 percent from the same period a year earlier. The company’s market share also jumped from 7th to 4th in the market over the period.

The company plans to secure a production capacity of 500GWh by 2030 by increasing its North American production capacity to about 180GWh by 2025.