A joint venture between Ford and South Korean battery manufacturer SK On has commenced production at its Kentucky facility, the first of three scheduled EV battery plants under the name of BlueOval SK.
The $5.8 billion Glendale facility will produce nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries for the automaker's popular F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck and its E-Transit van, InsideEVs reported.
"We are proud to build batteries at our Kentucky 1 facility that will power next-generation electric vehicles," BlueOval SK CEO Michael Adams said in a press release.
"The start of production is a significant milestone that strengthens our position in the electric vehicle battery market."
The U.S. Department of Energy announced a record $9.63 billion loan to BlueOval SK for the construction of three battery manufacturing plants in the country, which was finalized in 2024.
Once the three locations are up and running, with one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky, they're expected to deliver more than 120 gigawatt-hours of battery production each year.
This move will strengthen the domestic supply in the U.S. and was estimated to add 5,000 construction jobs and 7,500 operations jobs across the facilities, according to the DOE at the time of the announcement.
Bolstering the development of more sustainable transportation technologies is key to achieving our clean energy goals and reducing the proliferation of gas-powered vehicles that spew planet-warming tailpipe pollution and run on dirty fuels.
InsideEVs also reported that this investment is being made while Ford faces pressure from local rival General Motors and tough competition from other automakers like Hyundai and Kia.
Additionally, the outlet noted that Ford's EV sales have declined in the first half of the year, with F-150 Lightning sales dipping 17%, and E-Transit sales down 34%.
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Sign me up 👍 Still, the Ford F-150 Lightning beat out Tesla's Cybertruck in sales numbers for the second quarter in a row, proving that it's headed in the right direction.
It doesn't help that the Trump administration's actions to cut environmentally friendly programs, credits, and rebates — reversing course from the previous administration's push to support them — are having a negative impact on EV sales in the country.
GM, which claims to be the largest OEM battery cell producer in North America, has its own joint venture in Tennessee with LG Energy Solution under the name Ultium Cells.
In fact, both Ford and GM are developing more affordable lithium-iron-phosphate battery cells, which Reuters notes are gaining traction in the industry.
Notably, both companies are partnering with Redwood Materials for recycling efforts to build up the circular economy in the U.S. and diversify the supply chain.
The company claims it has been able to recover lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper with a rate of above 95% efficiency.
Ford's CEO Jim Farley shared that the company aims to retool its Louisville Assembly Plant to deliver a next-generation electric truck to replace the aging Escape and Lincoln Corsair crossover models in what it's calling a Model T moment.
The company's new midsize electric truck will be built on a Universal EV Platform and is expected to debut in 2027 with an MSRP of around $30,000, proving that its EV plan is still moving forward with vigor.
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