Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has rejected a proposed $3.5 billion Ford battery plant that would have created around 2,500 jobs due to concerns about the automaker's Chinese partner.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the manufacturing facility would have been built on the Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County. The plant would have produced lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for the automaker's future EVs if approved.
Last July, Ford announced its new strategy to source raw materials for batteries, such as LFP battery cells, to reduce reliance on typical rare earth minerals like nickel and cobalt. The Blue Oval confirmed plans in September 2021 to invest over $11 billion in battery production in Kentucky and Tennessee.
These regions, including the Berry site, are often some of the poorest parts of the states where new jobs are desperately needed.
A spokesperson for Governor Youngkin "While Ford is an iconic American company, it became clear that this proposal would serve as a front for the Chinese Communist party, which could compromise our economic security and Virginians' personal privacy. Virginians can be confident that companies with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party won't receive a leg up from the Commonwealth's economic incentive packages," said a spokesperson for Governor Youngkin.
When the potentially damaging effects of the deal were realized, the plant proposal never reached a final discussion stage. Ford will no doubt still proceed with the plant, only elsewhere. Its home state of Michigan is also being considered.
In any case, Virginia has missed out for at least a second time on a significant project like this. Last year, the same site came close to being selected for the $5.5 billion Hyundai battery plant. The South Korean automaker ultimately chose Georgia instead, where it will be the largest economic development plan in the state's history.
Earlier this week, Governor Youngkin announced an additional $90 million in grants to help develop the state's industrial sites, with $1.5 million earmarked for the Berry Hill site. The Chinese battery maker in question, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL), will begin supplying LFP battery packs for the Mustang Mach-E later this year and, beginning in 2024, the F-150 Lightning.
Youngkin's fellow Republican state lawmakers declined to comment because they signed nondisclosure agreements. Not surprisingly, their Democrat rivals blasted the governor's decision. "The governor's decision to pull Virginia out of the competition for the new Ford facility puts the Commonwealth at a severe disadvantage," said state Senator Ghazala Hashmi.
Ford has not yet commented on the matter.