A little over two years ago, Ford announced that it would be investing billions in three new EV and EV battery production facilities in Tennessee and Kentucky – one at BlueOval City, and two at the future Ford BlueOval SK campus, with production slated to begin in 2025. The automaker began hiring for these new under-construction plants just a few weeks ago, though last week, FoMoCo announced that it it’s pushing back $12 billion in EV investments – and is delaying its second Ford BlueOval SK plant – as it faces weaker-than-expected demand, and may even ditch plans to invest that money altogether. However, it seems as if construction at the second BlueOval SK plant will continue, regardless.
We’re building TWO battery plants at BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, KY! Kentucky 1 will begin production in 2025. Production at Kentucky 2 is paused, but construction is being completed. #BlueOvalSK will provide batteries for future @Ford and Lincoln EVs! #BlueOvalSK_KY pic.twitter.com/62QHwh8hcL
— BlueOval SK (@BlueOval_SK) October 31, 2023
BlueOval SK posted this interesting tidbit of information on X, confirming that even though it has paused production at the second EV battery plant, it will still finish construction of the facility, regardless. “We’re building TWO battery plants at BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, KY!” the tweet reads. “Kentucky 1 will begin production in 2025. Production at Kentucky 2 is paused, but construction is being completed. #BlueOvalSK will provide batteries for future @Ford and Lincoln EVs!”
Ford BlueOval SK Battery Park is being built as part of a joint venture between FoMoCo and SK On, the South Korean battery manufacturer. For now, it seems as if production at the first plant will in fact kick off in 2025 as planned, but it’s unclear what the future holds for the second plant. It stands to reason that BlueOval SK will in fact expand its operations to include that building if/when EV demand calls for it, which aligns with the automaker’s recent change of plans, too.
We’ll have more on Ford’s EV strategy soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comment
Ford has a strong incentive to not only complete the 2nd battery plant in Glendale, but also to put it into production. Most of the incentives offered to Ford require employment of a minimum of 4500 people. One plant = 2500 employees. Ford has to put both into production to avoid having to repay the 11 billion $ loan they got to build those plants.