Ford, battery supplier to spend $11.4 billion to build new U.S.

DETROIT – Ford Motor and battery supplier SK Innovation plan to invest more than $11.4 billion in new U.S. facilities that will create nearly 11,000 jobs to produce electric vehicles and batteries.

Ford is building twin lithium-ion battery plants in central Kentucky through a joint venture with South Korea-based SK called BlueOvalSK as well as a massive 3,600-acre campus in west Tennessee, the automaker said Monday night. The campus will include another a battery plant built with SK along with a supplier park, recycling center and a new assembly plant for electric F-Series trucks, Ford CEO Jim Farley told CNBC.

The plans are the latest of Ford’s to increase development and production of electric vehicles — including batteries — under Farley, who began leading the automaker a year ago this week. They also bolster President Joe Biden’s call for companies to onshore supply chains amid a global shortage of semiconductor chips that has disrupted several industries, including automotive.

The investment is part of Farley’s “Ford+” turnaround plan to make the automaker’s traditional operations more profitable and better position it for emerging sectors such as autonomous, electric and connected vehicles.

“This is the new Ford,” Farley told CNBC during a phone interview. “It’s time. We are putting shovels in the ground, 11,000 new workers. … It’s an enormous commitment to build these digital products.”

Ford does not expect to take on any additional debt to fund the plans, according to Farley. He said moves will be funded through the company’s profits.

The new investment comes on top of the $30 billion the company previously said would go to electric vehicles through 2025, about $7 billion of which had already been invested before February.

Production at the plants, aside from one of the battery plants in Kentucky, is expected to begin in 2025, the company said. The second battery plant in Kentucky is expected to come online in 2026, according to Ford.

The “new Ford” is a drastic pivot from Farley’s predecessor, Jim Hackett, who previously said the automaker saw “no advantage” in producing its own battery cells. It comes as Ford’s crosstown rival General Motors spends $4.6 billion through a joint venture with LG Chem for battery production, starting in 2023.

Farley said the investment should be further proof that Ford, which many on Wall Street believed was behind on EVs, is positioned to be a leader in the segment. “I don’t know of any other company making this announcement. Why would you ever think we’re behind? We’re ahead,” Farley said.

Shares of Ford have more than doubled since Farley became CEO of the automaker almost a year ago.

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