Officials in Michigan have green-lighted $715 million worth of incentives for a $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery plant set to be established in the state.
The plant will be opened by Gotion, a Chinese battery manufacturer that is partially owned by the Volkswagen Group. The incentives will include $175 million of funding from the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve as well as a 30-year Renaissance Zone property tax abatement valued at $540 million.
Gotion intends on establishing four manufacturing plants that cover a combined 2 million square feet. The site is expected to generate over $13 billion of personal income and create up to 2,350 jobs. The average hourly wage at the site will be $29.42.
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Of the $175 million in funding from the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve, Auto News notes that $125 million comes in the form of a Critical Industry Program performance-based grant while $50 million is a Strategic Site Readiness Program performance-based grant that will fund the preparation of the 523-acre site.
“The automotive industry is in an accelerated, full-fledged transition to electrified propulsion, the impact of which will be transformative and far-reaching,” a briefing memo from the Michigan Economic Development Corp said. “In order to maintain automotive manufacturing relevance, let alone leadership, it is imperative for the State of Michigan to capture as much investment in the research, development, and production of advanced battery technologies as possible.”
It is not yet clear which car manufacturers will use Gotion’s batteries but the company has previously said that it will locate one-third of its production capacity outside China by 2025 in order to meet growing demand from overseas car manufacturers building EVs.
