A Korean Company Moves Into the Battery Belt

As electric vehicles become a growing slice of the auto market, new companies are taking advantage of the disruption to insert themselves into the automotive industry supply chain. They’re investing billions of dollars and creating thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs in the United States.

Global EVs sales will almost triple by 2026, to 27 million vehicles annually, Bloomberg estimates. The number of passenger EVs on the road will climb from 30 million today to more than 100 million by 2026.

In the US, that’s led to the development of the so-called Battery Belt, with new EV battery factories sprouting up east of the Mississippi River, from the upper Midwest to the South. SK Group – a South Korean conglomerate – has been leading the way, with deals to make batteries for Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen.

SK Group subsidiary SK On is manufacturing the battery cells and modules for the electric version of the iconic Ford F-150 truck at a 283-acre, $2.6 billion complex in northeast Georgia. The Commerce, GA facility was the biggest economic development in the state’s history—until it was eclipsed by a planned $5 billion battery plant announced in December that’s a joint venture between SK On and Hyundai Motor Group.

Meanwhile, Ford and SK On plan to invest $11.4 billion and create nearly 11,000 new jobs in Tennessee and Kentucky to produce new EVs and manufacture batteries.

“We are committed to electrifying the future of mobility. Our advanced EV battery technology has the power to change lives,” says Dr. Robert Rhee, CEO of BlueOval SK, a joint venture between SK On and Ford focused on EV batteries. “We are excited to create good American jobs and strengthen critical domestic supply chains.”

SK Group owns more than 175 companies and employs 100,000 people worldwide, making it South Korea’s second largest conglomerate. The battery factories are part of a broader push to expand US investments in new technologies that help fight the impact of climate change. It has committed to investing $85 billion globally in businesses that will help meet its goal to cut its annual carbon emissions by 200 million tons in 2030.

SK Group’s focus on new technologies isn’t the first major pivot the enterprise has made over its 70-year history. Founded as a textile company, SK moved into the energy business in the 1980s, building South Korea’s largest energy company, SK Innovation. Expansions into telecom and semiconductors followed.

In 1998, Chairman Tae-won Chey commenced what has become known as the “Deep Change” era for SK, focused on globalization, transparency and innovation. SK’s move into sustainability is part of that effort. It includes significant US investments in diverse areas such as sustainable food, solar, energy storage, hydrogen and carbon capture.

Massive operations, massive hiring

SK Group’s US employee base will likely reach 20,000 by 2025, up from 5,000 today.

In Commerce, SK On has hired over 3,000 employees, largely through job fairs and a partnership with the state to train workers and hire veterans. The plant is bringing back prosperity to a corner of Georgia that was hit hard by the decline of its textiles industry, says Pat Wilson, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

“These are the manufacturing jobs of the future—and by the way, they pay really well and offer great benefits,” he says.