Ford Motor Company (
F – Free Report) and its Korean battery partner, SK On Ltd., have secured a $9.63 billion loan from the U.S. Energy Department to construct three advanced electric vehicle (EV) battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky. This loan, the largest ever issued by the department’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program, will support the development of 120 gigawatt hours of battery capacity and create 7,500 jobs across the BlueOval SK LLC facilities.
Mallory Cooke, BlueOval SK spokesperson, initially estimated at $9.2 billion, the loan amount was revised upward due to inflation-driven cost increases. The finalization process, which began in June 2023, required extensive due diligence, including evaluations of technical, market, financial and regulatory factors. While repayment terms remain confidential, the loan’s interest rate aligns with the U.S. Treasury-equivalent yields, with no added credit spread…