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Ford Motor Co. will build a large battery plant for electric vehicles in Turkey with South Korean battery maker SK On and its Turkish joint venture partner Koc Holding, according to Auto News. Thus, Bulgaria again got away with its aspirations to attract to the country a large car manufacturer, which chose our southern neighbor.
The plant will have an annual production capacity of 30 to 45 gigawatt hours, said our representatives Ford and SK On. It will be located near the capital Ankara and will produce NMC cells with a high nickel content for assembly into battery modules.
The plant should start operating by 2025 and will be one of the largest facilities for batteries for electric vehicles in Europe, according to Ford.
Ford plans to assemble the new generation of the Transit Custom van for the European market in Turkey next year, including fully electric and hybrid variants, along with versions with internal combustion engines.
Ford Otosan, Turkey’s Turkish joint venture with Koc Holding, will also take ownership of the carmaker’s plant in Craiova, Romania. Ford plans to produce electric versions of the new Transit Courier and Tourneo Courier buses in Craiova in 2024. The vans are currently being manufactured in Turkey.
SK announced last year a $ 8.22 billion investment plan with Ford to build three U.S. battery plants. SK currently has battery production facilities in the United States, Hungary, China and the Republic of Korea.
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