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Ford's first Kentucky EV battery plant on track for 2025, CEO says [1]
['Chris Otts', 'Wdrb News']
Date: 2025-01
GLENDALE, Ky. (WDRB) — Ford Motor Co.’s latest tweak to its electric vehicle plans isn’t slowing progress on the first of two massive, side-by-side EV battery plants in Kentucky.
BlueOval SK, a joint venture between Ford and Korean partner SK On, is on track to start making batteries for Ford and Lincoln EVs next year, BlueOval SK CEO Michael Adams said Friday.
“We’ll be producing in 2025,” Adams told reporters following an event to celebrate a new highway interchange near the site in Glendale, Ky.
Adams added that the company has hired about 700 of the 2,500 people who are expected to work at the plant.
The $5.8 billion pair of battery plants under construction about 45 miles south of Louisville represent the biggest economic development project in Kentucky history. Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday compared BlueOval SK to Toyota’s decision to build its Georgetown, Ky. factory in the late 1980s.
EVs are a growing portion of the auto market, but the pace hasn’t matched automakers’ expectations. That has led Ford and other carmakers to push back some of their EV ambitions.
Ford last year indefinitely delayed the start of production at the second of the two EV battery plants in Kentucky as part of a plan to put off about $12 billion in EV-related investments.
It has also delayed production of a planned three-row EV and a new all-electric pickup, while reducing the number of F-150 Lightning EV trucks made at its plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
The second Kentucky battery plant remains under construction, but the building will not be outfitted with equipment until production plans are set, Adams said Friday.
“When it comes up will really be based on market demand, and we’re waiting to see how that goes,” he said.
Ford — BlueOval SK’s sole customer — plans to use the first Kentucky plant to supply batteries for commercial EVs sold to customers like contractors through its Ford Pro division, such as E-Transit vans, Ford officials said last year.
Adams declined to comment on the products that will be supported by BlueOval SK plants.
More than half of the 700 hired so far by BlueOval SK in Kentucky are hourly workers, according to BlueOval SK’s Mallory Cooke. The jobs start at $21 per hour.
The company would not specify when in 2025 it plans to start work.
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[1] Url:
https://www.wdrb.com/news/business/fords-first-kentucky-ev-battery-plant-on-track-for-2025-ceo-says/article_c414d5f6-f8f8-11ee-a960-afcdba32d566.html
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