SK On unwinds Ford U.S. battery JV, pivots to ESS growth
SK On unwinds Ford battery JV: Ford takes Kentucky plants as SK On pivots to ESS
SK On unwinds Ford U.S. battery JV, pivots to ESS growth
SK On is ending its U.S. battery JV with Ford: Ford will control two Kentucky plants, SK On the Tennessee site, while pivoting to ESS amid softer EV demand.
2025-12-12T01:49:17+03:00
2025-12-12T01:49:17+03:00
2025-12-12T01:49:17+03:00
South Korea’s SK On has announced it is winding down its U.S. battery joint venture with Ford. As part of the reshuffle, Ford, through its subsidiary, will take full control of two plants in Kentucky, while SK On becomes the sole owner and operator of the Tennessee site. The start of production there has been deliberately left flexible and tied to the transaction’s completion, a move that keeps options open at a time when timing matters as much as scale.The partners had initially earmarked about $11.4 billion for their battery factories, but slower electric-vehicle demand and the expiry of some U.S. subsidies pushed the Korean company to rethink its course. SK On is now leaning into energy storage systems, a pivot that should help redeploy capacity, trim debt and fixed costs, and steady the balance sheet. It reads less like a retreat from EVs and more like a calculated redistribution of resources to where the near-term pull looks stronger.In the third quarter of 2025, SK On reported an operating loss of 124.8 billion won, nearly double the previous quarter. Against that backdrop, the company is moving actively into the ESS segment, including a contract to supply LFP batteries to Flatiron Energy. LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI are making similar turns toward storage, retooling portions of lines that once focused on EV batteries—further proof that the industry’s center of gravity is shifting, at least for now, toward grid-scale demand.
SK On, Ford, battery joint venture, U.S. battery plants, Kentucky plants, Tennessee site, ESS, energy storage systems, EV demand, LFP batteries, Flatiron Energy, subsidies, Samsung SDI
2025
Michael Powers
news
SK On unwinds Ford battery JV: Ford takes Kentucky plants as SK On pivots to ESS
SK On is ending its U.S. battery JV with Ford: Ford will control two Kentucky plants, SK On the Tennessee site, while pivoting to ESS amid softer EV demand.
Michael Powers, Editor
South Korea’s SK On has announced it is winding down its U.S. battery joint venture with Ford. As part of the reshuffle, Ford, through its subsidiary, will take full control of two plants in Kentucky, while SK On becomes the sole owner and operator of the Tennessee site. The start of production there has been deliberately left flexible and tied to the transaction’s completion, a move that keeps options open at a time when timing matters as much as scale.
The partners had initially earmarked about $11.4 billion for their battery factories, but slower electric-vehicle demand and the expiry of some U.S. subsidies pushed the Korean company to rethink its course. SK On is now leaning into energy storage systems, a pivot that should help redeploy capacity, trim debt and fixed costs, and steady the balance sheet. It reads less like a retreat from EVs and more like a calculated redistribution of resources to where the near-term pull looks stronger.
In the third quarter of 2025, SK On reported an operating loss of 124.8 billion won, nearly double the previous quarter. Against that backdrop, the company is moving actively into the ESS segment, including a contract to supply LFP batteries to Flatiron Energy. LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI are making similar turns toward storage, retooling portions of lines that once focused on EV batteries—further proof that the industry’s center of gravity is shifting, at least for now, toward grid-scale demand.
