Virginia Gov. rejects Ford battery plant over connections to China

[Airforceguy]

I hope Michigan can pick up this plant...

In a phone interview from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Whitmer said her administration would continue fighting for the project after Youngkin, a potential Republican presidential candidate, pulled out of the competition."We are focused on jobs for Michiganders and securing the future of mobility is built in Michigan by Michiganders," Whitmer, a Democrat, told The Detroit News.
"We are proud that Ford is an American company, Ford is a Michigan company. We are going to compete for every opportunity for the State of Michigan."
Whitmer declined to say more about the potential Ford deal, but called it an "exciting opportunity" for Michigan and that she hopes to hear whether the state landed it within the next few weeks.The plant would have produced lithium iron phosphate batteries for Ford's electric vehicles, according to reporting from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and would have brought at least 2,500 jobs to one of the poorest parts of south-central Virginia near the North Carolina state line.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...t/69818481007/

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I’m not surprised, since he’s a RWNJ who masqueraded as a moderate in order to get elected

[Richard]

Batteries are heavy and expensive to ship,in the future when the government incentives and funding dries up the only ones that will be left will be the ones that are located as close to the auto manufacturers in order to remain competitive.

There are really only a couple of states,where the manufacturers are located,where they make sense.

Not sure why other states are fighting over something that they know will be here today and gone tomorrow,there is a million other forms of manufacturing that we should be also fighting for to establish in any state.

Look at how many fought over the big Amazon thing,ready to kick in 100s of millions and look at how many Amazon warehouses are closed or scheduled to be closed in the future.

What side of the isle they are on is irrelevant,money grabs does not need to make sound financial sense long term,they just have to look good to the voters in that moment in time.

EV batteries are over 1000 # on average and EV semi's are hitting the 12,000 # range,that’s just the battery.

It is borderline insanity to be putting battery factory’s anyplace else but next door to the factory producing the vehicles or as close as possible.

Kinda defeats the energy savings,when it is offset by transporting millions of # of batteries across multiple states.

This is just the government using battery factories and the hopes of landing one in order to say - look we are trying to provide good paying jobs,when they know full well there are really only 3 states in the country where they would make long term economical sense.

Michigan does not need to compete for a battery factory or give away the store in order to get one,because the stockholders will look at the numbers and apply basic economics.

It is easy to pretend you are fighting that good fight,when it is already a guaranteed thing.

GM teamed up with China long ago,not sure why Ford or GM even have to in the first place,outside of China is currently the largest EV manufacturer in the world and controls much of the related ingredients in raw materials.

They may be forced to team up simply to excess to that supply chain or to prevent China from undercutting them in the future,legacy costs put GM and Ford at a disadvantage from the start.

30 years down the road,or up , I really do not see Ford or GM existing in a big capacity,China already has over 500 EV manufacturers and has the capability to build millions of EVs ready to go right now.

So we are in the 1920s while they are in 2050 when it comes to all of this.

In 2021 China produced 3.5 million light duty EVs the United States 540,000.

While our capacity has increased every year,so does theirs,by the millions compared to our 100s of thousands.

China currently has the capacity to build 26.69 million EVs per year and are only operating at 5.1% production rate.

They are the largest battery manufacturers and biggest investors in battery production across the world and also consume 50% of battery production.

I do not like American companies investing with Chinese,but it looks like they have no choice now,to bad everybody laughed when somebody said- now is the time to be locking down the raw materials sources before China does,they won and now we get to pay the price.

When the dust settles,battery factories are not going to save anybody,they have already become economically obsolete before even they are built.but we get to have fun cutting checks for billions in the meantime it’s almost like playing the lottery.

[Henry Whalley]

When the dust settles,battery factories are not going to save anybody,

Youngkin Says Ford Has ‘Trojan Horse’ Relationship With Chinese Battery Maker [[msn.com)

[Richard]

https://www.reuters.com/technology/g...nt-2023-01-20/

GM is rethinking its 4th battery factory joint venture with LG in Carlisle Indiana but not with the ones in Michigan and Tennessee,which makes logistical sense.

The issue is with the time frame demands we are giving them no other option but to team up with foreign companies,but at our expense.

I would not have an issue,when it comes to taxpayer funds,if for instance,taxpayers funded GMs battery factory if it was strictly GM,built in America,by Americans and controlled by an American company,and not a percentage going to overseas benefits.

They always report on these partnerships while listing the auto manufacturers investment and the U.S. taxpayers investment,but they do not list the details of what the foreign companies investment is or how much their taxpayers are contributing.

They are going to benefit from it,I kinda think we have the right to know as to what extent sense it is actually at our expense.

The military and federal government has a strict buy American policy,China and others like to invest in American companies as proxies in order to circumvent that requirement.

I have yet to see a battery factory start up by anybody that is 100% American in order to fill that need,which needs to happen if one expects the federal government to switch to EVs - unless of course they do not even believe in the ruse.

They have had to taken that into some kind of consideration,you would think anyways.

That government contract alone is billions of dollars,but yet nobody has mentioned it or prepared for it.

Unless the government is exempting itself from the 2030-35 requirements that it is placing on us.

Part of the automotive manufacturers bailout deal back then was the agreement for the manufacturers to commit to switching to EVs.

So they actually knew back then what was going to happen, in 2008,and when the deadline was.

I kinda think that the governor of Michigan,instead of grandstanding over something that was going to happen anyways,should really be looking at how to capitalize on something nobody else is,that government contract,it’s not like the state has no past experience in supplying the government with large quantities of supplies.

Actually and to be a bit more specific,the city is hell bent on demolishing the Packard plant,or what is left of it,when it provides what a battery factory needs,lots of open floor space,it’s already zoned heavy industrial,has the rail lines and infrastructure and the bones for easy conversion at a reduced cost to the taxpayers.

But then again,what fun is burning through 100s of millions in taxpayer dollars when you have the public excited about spending billions,can’t be leaving no money on the table after all.

You have the location,the timing is perfect,the feds have a bottomless pit of money to fund it,now all you need is a few politicians to do what they keep claiming they are there for,look out for the best interests of their constituents by providing them opportunity and jobs.

Maybe they need a little nudge to remind them?

Its Detroit,you create bandwagons,you do not jump on them,it’s in your DNA.