Originally reported by the Associated Press (March 6, 2026). Read the full story →
Nearly 1,000 workers at SK Battery America’s Commerce, Georgia, plant lost their jobs on March 6 — the direct consequence of a Ford cancellation, vanishing federal incentives, and a domestic EV market that has stalled well short of industry projections. The layoffs are among the most visible signs yet that the U.S. battery supply chain built during the Biden era is now contracting under a very different policy environment.
For EV industry stakeholders and fleet operators, the Commerce plant downsizing is not an isolated supplier story. It signals a broader recalibration of when — and under what conditions — the domestic battery manufacturing buildout can sustainably resume.
A Cascade of Decisions
SK Battery America filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification covering 958 employees, roughly 37% of its Commerce workforce. The affected workers’ last day was March 6, with pay and benefits continuing through May 6.
The trigger was unmistakable. Ford announced in December that it was dissolving the BlueOval SK battery joint venture and canceling the fully electric F-150 Lightning due to sluggish sales, a move that is expected to generate a $19.5 billion write-down for the automaker. With its single largest customer exiting, SK had little choice but to resize.
SK Battery America opened the $2.6 billion Commerce plant in January 2022, and as recently as 2023, the company was expanding its workforce by several hundred employees to keep pace with anticipated EV demand. The reversal in just two years underscores how quickly the sector’s demand assumptions shifted.
Policy Headwinds Compound Market Softness
The Ford cancellation alone doesn’t fully explain the severity of the cuts. Federal policy has played an equally significant role in reshaping the investment calculus.
Congress has eliminated consumer EV tax credits of up to $7,500, and the Trump administration has moved toward more relaxed automotive emissions standards, creating significant uncertainty across the EV supply chain.
Meanwhile, the market itself has plateaued. EVs represented approximately 8% of U.S. new vehicle sales in 2025 — roughly flat compared to the prior year — well below the growth trajectory automakers had projected when making their supply chain commitments. Major OEMs including Ford, GM, and Stellantis have all pulled back on pure BEV timelines, redirecting investment toward hybrids and more affordable entry-level EVs.
For fleet managers evaluating electrification timelines, this environment raises a practical question: does the domestic battery supply chain have the stability and capacity assurance to underpin large-scale fleet transition commitments over a five- to ten-year horizon?
What Remains — and What’s Next
The picture isn’t entirely bleak. SK and Hyundai are still jointly building a $5 billion battery factory near Cartersville, Georgia, while Rivian’s $5 billion facility and Hyundai’s $7.6 billion manufacturing complex represent ongoing state investments that have not been pulled back.
SK itself is signaling a strategic pivot rather than a full retreat. The company’s spokesperson said SK Battery America is pursuing new customers in the Battery Energy Storage System arena — a meaningful pivot toward stationary grid storage, where demand drivers are less dependent on consumer purchase behavior and federal EV policy.
A law firm has also announced an investigation into whether SK Battery complied with WARN Act notification requirements, adding legal uncertainty to an already complicated transition.
Bottom Line
The Commerce, Georgia layoffs are a concrete consequence of the collision between ambitious domestic battery manufacturing investment and a market that has not scaled as projected. For EV industry stakeholders — particularly fleet operators building electrification roadmaps — the event reinforces the importance of supply chain diversification and contractual flexibility. SK’s pivot toward energy storage customers may prove prescient, but the near-term human and economic costs are significant. The domestic battery manufacturing sector will recover, but the path forward will be shaped less by optimism and more by realistic demand signals and stable policy frameworks.
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