WASHINGTON : The U.S. Energy Department on Thursday said it intends to loan a joint venture of Ford Motor and South Korean battery maker SK On up to $9.2 billion to help finance construction of three new battery manufacturing plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.
The conditional commitment for the low-cost government loan for the Blue Oval SK joint venture comes from the government's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program. SK On is a unit of South Korea's SK Innovation. The joint venture is building battery manufacturing facilities in Kentucky and Tennessee capable of collectively producing more than 80 gigawatt hours annually.