SEOUL, March 5 (Yonhap) — South Korean battery maker SK On Co. said Sunday that U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the construction site of its new production line in Kentucky early week.
Buttigieg toured the 6.28 million square meter site of the manufacturing campus, named BlueOval SK Battery Park, on Friday and met with officials to discuss the progress of the project that will create 5,000 new jobs, according to SK On.
“When it opens, it will be one of the largest electric vehicle battery factories in the world. The workers here are not just building a factory, they are building livelihoods and they are building the future,” he said. he stated, said Buttigieg, per SK On.
Production is expected to begin in 2025, the company said.
The project is part of the joint US$11.4 billion investment by SK On and Ford Co. to build two electric vehicle battery plants in Kentucky and another in Tennessee.
The batteries that will be produced in the factories will power Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tours the BlueOval SK Battery Park construction site in Kentucky on March 3, 2023, in this photo released by SK On Co. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
colin@yna.co.kr
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