Ford Motor and partner SK Innovation said they plan to invest $11.4 billion at two sites in Kentucky and Tennessee to produce electric F-Series trucks and the batteries to power future electric vehicles.
A planned $5.6 billion facility in Stanton, Tennessee, called Blue Oval City, is planned to serve as a vertically integrated system for Ford to assemble electric F-Series vehicles. It will include a battery plant, suppliers, and recycling.
Twin battery plants on the site are intended to supply Ford’s North American assembly plants. Investments are planned to be made via BlueOvalSK, a new joint venture formed by Ford and SK Innovation, subject to definitive agreements, regulatory approvals, and other conditions.
Established as South Korea’s first oil refining company in 1962, SK Innovation’s current business interests include exploration and production, batteries, and information and electronics materials. It owns a South Korean refining company; a petrochemical company; a global lubricants company; a refining and chemical company; a trader of crude oils and petrochemicals; and a global information and electronic material solution company. SK Innovation said it will split off its battery business on October 1 as a wholly owned unit.
Ford said its $7 billion investment is one of the largest manufacturing investments at one time by a U.S. automotive manufacturer in the U.S. The automaker said it expects 40% to 50% of its global vehicle volume to be fully electric by 2030.
The 3,600-acre Tennessee campus is intended to include the potential to use local renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal, and wind power.
Ford said it would work with Redwood Materials, a battery materials company, to localize the supply chain network, create recycling options for scrap and end-of-life vehicles, and ramp up lithium-ion recycling.
Ford also is planning a $5.8 billion, 1,500-acre BlueOvalSK battery manufacturing facility in Glendale, Kentucky, which is targeted to open in 2025. Twin co-located plants will be capable of producing up to 43 GWh each for a total of 86 GWh annually.
