10:39 AM EST, 12/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Ford Motor's ( F ) joint venture with South Korean electric vehicle battery manufacturer SK On secured an up to $9.63 billion loan from the US government for the construction of three new battery production plants.

The US Department of Energy on Monday finalized the direct loan to BlueOval SK under its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program. The loan will help finance the building of one manufacturing facility in Tennessee and two plants in Kentucky to produce batteries for Ford's future EVs, according to a statement by the DOE.

BlueOval SK is a joint venture between Ford and SK On to produce advanced batteries for future Ford EVs. In June 2023, the DOE conditionally agreed to loan up to $9.2 billion to BlueOval SK for the development of the plants.

The new facilities are expected to enable more than 120 gigawatt hours of annual battery production, the DOE said. The three plants created more than 5,000 construction jobs while they were being built and are expected to add up to 7,500 operational positions at BlueOval SK.

Ford and BlueOval SK didn't immediately respond to MT Newswires' requests for comments. BlueOval SK plans to launch production in Kentucky and Tennessee next year.

The announcement comes amid media reports that President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is recommending changes to cut off support for EVs and charging stations and is looking to boost measures blocking cars, components and battery materials from China.

"Today's announcement reinforces President Biden's historic efforts to onshore and re-shore domestic manufacturing and ensure American businesses remain global leaders in technologies of the future," the DOE said Monday. "Expanding domestic production of American-made batteries is critical to reducing America's reliance on adversarial foreign nations like China, meeting the nation's domestic and international climate commitments, and achieving President Biden's goal to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles."

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