LG Energy, Ford, and Koc Holding signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a new joint venture to create one of Europe’s largest commercial electric vehicle battery cell facilities near Ankara, subject to final agreement by all parties.
Although the MoU is non-binding, Ford stated that construction on the facility will begin later this year, with production beginning in 2026. The automaker anticipates that the plant will have an annual capacity of 25 GWh. However, this could potentially increase to 45 GWh over time.
“Ford continues to ramp up our electric vehicle plans as we scale to be a leader in the electric vehicle revolution,” said Lisa Drake, the VP of Ford EV industrialization. “We are delivering on the commitment to produce batteries in the same region where we build electric vehicles.”
Ford has a long history Koc Holding. It has worked for nearly a century with them and the successful Ford Otosan joint venture is now nearly 60 years old.
Meanwhile, LG Energy Solutions has been in operation for more than a decade. Most recently, the South Korean firm supplied batteries for Ford’s Polish plant, which went into the Mustang Mach-E and the E-Transit.
Ford intends to sell only electric vehicles in Europe by 2035, a goal that this new plant will help them achieve.