As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced the closing of a direct loan of up to $9.63 billion to BlueOval SK LLC (BOSK) for the construction of up to three manufacturing plants to produce batteries for Ford Motor Company’s future Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles (EVs).
One plant is located in Tennessee, and two are in Kentucky, which would enable more than 120 gigawatt hours of US battery production annually. The three facilities created more than 5,000 construction jobs as the plants were being built and will create up to 7,500 BOSK operations jobs.
This announcement is the largest loan granted through DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program (ATVM) to date, ensuring the country can meet domestic demand and remain competitiv in the rapidly expanding EV industry.
Expanding the domestic production of American-made batteries is critical to reducing America’s reliance on adversarial foreign nations like China, meeting the nation’s climate commitments, and achieving President Biden’s goal to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles
LPO borrowers are required to develop and ultimately implement a comprehensive Community Benefits Plan (CBP).
As a part of their CBP, BlueOval SK has partnered with Tennessee College of Applied Technology through the state of Tennessee and Elizabethtown Community and Technical College in the state of Kentucky to construct new community and technical colleges that are training members of the community for quality jobs at the BOSK facilities.
The announcement is one of several recent LPO loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program in the last year, demonstrating LPO’s leadership in building a strong domestic supply chain for EVs.
Through ATVM, LPO provides loans to projects related to fuel-efficient vehicles and eligible component manufacturing in the United States. Recent announcements have spanned the critical mineral and battery supply chains and involved mineral processing, battery manufacturing, and battery recycling. LPO has been working with BOSK to finalize its loan since June 2023.
BOSK is a joint venture between Ford Motor Company (Ford) and SK On, a Korean EV battery manufacturer. BOSK was created to supply Ford with batteries for its growing EV product line.
Filed Under: Batteries, Technology News