SK Innovation to support Ford electrification goals with BlueOvalSK joint venture

Following the news that South Korean battery maker SK Innovation and Ford Motor have signed a MoU to form EV battery joint venture BlueOvalSK to manufacture battery cells and arrays in the US;

Bakar Sadik Agwan, Senior Automotive Consulting Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“With Blue Oval SK, SK Innovation gets to strengthen its foothold in the US EV markets while Ford will inch closer to its target of 100% passenger vehicle electrification by mid-2026. The JV aims to increase output later in the mid-decade. SK Innovation presently has an annual capacity of about 40 GWh of batteries and has plants across South Korea, the US, Hungary and China. The company aims to ramp up its annual capacity to about 125 GWh by 2025 and the US is expected to be a key beneficiary of the same. SK has announced a total of KRW 9 trillion (approx. US$8bn) in the facilities expansion in the US.

“Ford’s serious transition to EVs is expected to require at least 240GWh of battery capacity by 2030. The company is set to significantly expand its EV product portfolio and is already electrifying some of its most iconic models such as the F-150 pickup truck. Ford’s JV with SK innovation are the steps in the right direction to balance the future demand for batteries in its electric vehicles.

“With growing demand and intensifying EV competition globally, OEMs across regions seem to be more interested in vertical integration across the supply chain to make their future supply secure. The move makes complete strategic sense and the market is expected to witness more such collaborations for battery development in near-future.”