A Ford Motor joint venture is set to get a record $9.2 billion loan from the Department of Energy to finance battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky critical for the auto maker’s push into electric vehicles.
The commitment adds to a clean-energy spending spree that has been accelerated by last year’s climate law known as the Inflation Reduction Act, which gave the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office more firepower to dole out money to critical infrastructure projects.
The Ford deal is the largest single investment in the office’s nearly 20-year history. It reached a deal with a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution for a $2.5 billion loan for battery production last year and has been committing billions more to the industry under former solar entrepreneur Jigar Shah, who became its director in 2021.
Read the full story on The Wall Street Journal here.