11 U.S. Factories Just Got $1.7B to Build Electrified Vehicles
On August 31 of last year, the Department of Energy announced $2B of grant funding focused on overhauling or repurposing automotive factories to build electrified vehicles, including everything from pure battery-electric vehicles to plug-in hybrids to hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The effort was officially called the Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant Program and the money was set aside under the Inflation Reduction Act. As of July 11, we know which plants have been selected for the funding, and what they’re going to do with the grant money. The final allocation is down slightly from the $2B figure, at $1.7 billion.
Priority was given to “the refurbishment and retooling of manufacturing facilities that have recently ceased operation or will cease operation in the near future,” so all eleven of the awarded projects are “shuttered or at risk,” according to the announcement released by the DOE. Two are in Pennsylvania, two in Michigan, two in Indiana, and the remaining five in Georgia, Virginia, Illinois, Maryland, and Ohio. Funding was available up to half of the cost of the project, whether that was “supporting the transition to electric vehicles,” retooling a plant, or rehiring existing workers. The Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chain (MESC) allowed for 2–4 Large awards, meaning the federal government would pick up between $250 and $500 million of the total project cost; 3–5 Medium, or $100,000,000 to $249,999,999; and 4–6 Small, or $25 million to $99,999,999.
The largest amounts of federal money, then, went to the most extensive projects, and those belong to Fiat-Chrysler Automotive. FCA receives a total of $534,763,049 for two projects: $334,763,050 to convert Belvidere Assembly to “a Vehicle Complex for Electrification” and $249,999,999 to convert its Indiana Transmission Plant to the production of electric drive modules.
The recipient to receive the next-largest amount of grant money was General Motors, who received $500M for Grand River Assembly in Lansing, Michigan’s capital. The facility will be refurbished and retooled so that it can build EVs instead of internal combustion-engine vehicles.
“General Motors LLC (GM) proposes to convert its Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant (LGR), located in Lansing, MI, from producing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to producing efficient electric vehicles (EVs). Constructed in 1999, LGR began assembling ICE vehicles in 2001. The works “will allow GM to produce new electrified models and enable the facility to be considered for future EV programs.”
Another nine-figure beneficiary is Volvo Technology of America, LLC, which receives $208,224,054 to convert its facilities in Macungie, Pennsylvania; Dublin, Virginia; and Hagerstown, Maryland from the production of fossil-fuel trucks to the production of zero-emissions ones for Volvo Group’s Mack and Volvo brands. Volvo Trucks’ facility in Dublin, New River Valley, is the brand’s largest manufacturing facility in the world.
The rest of the grant money goes to American Autoparts, Inc., Blue Bird Body Company, Cummins Electrified Power NA, Inc., Harley Davidson Inc., and ZF North America, Inc.
American Autoparts is a subsidiary of Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd. It will be using its $32,617,879 of grant money to convert a complete chassis assembly plant in the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex—where the Wrangler and Gladiator are made—to the assembly of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and gas vehicles. It will be making a new light PHEV truck. Not to be outdone in the transition to electric vehicles, American Autoparts will also build a new plant to assemble battery systems in a new 285,000 sq ft building at the Toledo Trade Centre Industrial Park, where the old North Town Square Mall was. Those battery systems will go in plug-in hybrid SUVs, light trucks, and minivans.
Blue Bird Body Company, a long-time builder of school buses that has also made at least 1500 electric ones, will be converting a site previously used to build diesel-powered motorhomes into a 600,000 sq ft facility that will produce electric school buses. The project is in Fort Valley, Georgia, about 100 miles south-south-east of Atlanta, and benefits from a $79,728,146 grant.
Cummins Electrified Power NA, Inc, will be using its $75 million for “Accelerating the shift to zero: Charting a path for workforce transition and community improvement toward a zero-emissions economy.” Upon further investigation, that means converting 360,000 sq.ft of its engine plant in Columbus, Indiana to the manufacture of zero-emissions components and electric powertrain systems. The conversion should add about 250 new full-time jobs.
Harley-Davidson will be using its $89M of grant money to put new pain and assembly equipment in its 650,000 sq ft facility in York, Pennsylvania, where it makes electric motorcycles for its affiliate brand, namely the LiveWire. (You can read our review of the bike here.)
ZF North America, which most of us know for its transmissions, will be using $157,714,011 of grant money for its subsidiary ZF Axle Drives Marysville LLC, which will be converting part of its facility in that Michigan town from the production of ICE driveline components to EV components for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles.
“Today’s announcement,” reads the release on the MESC page of the energy.gov site, “complements the $177 billion in private sector investment in EV and battery manufacturing spurred to date by the President’s Investing in America agenda.”
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LOL what a joke. This 2 Billion is not thing in the big picture for bring the changes the government is calling for with the move to ICE.
The money being spent by MFGs is so much more and many will have to merge and partner to shoulder the cost. Why do you think GM is building Honda and Acura EV cars for them. They just do not have the capital to do it all alone.
Toyota, GM and VW are the only real strong players that go it alone and even for them it is a drain.
Notice that many of the factories are in politically sensitive states?
Sounds like someone is using tax money to buy votes.
And why is an energy program in something called the “Inflation Reduction Act”.
The cynic in me thinks that the correct title ” Pork fest for re-election” was too honest for the political class.
So this is the first time tax money might be used for votes? Florida and Texas were handed billions during the Space Race. Nothing to see here. As usual.
Dylan went electric in 60…whatever and got booed. Went on the road with The Hawks ( later known as The Band ) and got booed even more, but stuck with it. The nay sayers were wrong. At one time Burroughs (where William S. got all the money to write all those books as a side note ) was the end all and be all in calculating machines. No one could imagine them being surpassed, until a company called IBM with their electronic ‘ com- pu- ters’ put them on the back shelf until ..and so on and so on as time marches on. When we’re talking EVs China has gone all in. But they soon found out that picking winners and looser’s was the wrong approach. Innovation often comes from the unlikely sources and putting all their eggs in one basket was the wrong idea. So they changed their strategy and have instead cast a wider net in their “China 2025′ initiative which promotes a larger array of companies to pursue technical innovation, or as we’re fond of saying here encouraging ‘the entrepreneurial spirit ‘. Same same ,everybody looks at their spread sheets.
30 trillion in debt and throwing away more money at a technology buyers do not want more than gasoline vehicles.
Most try to avoid political diatribes here, and those who indulge are regularly scolded for it.
A story like this is pure politics. It is not possible to discuss it without partisan content.
I don’t want to just plug my ears and sing la-la-la, but when this comes up again remember who started it.
UGH!!!!!
Just another waste of billions. I as many others do not want and will not be forced into buying an EV. Not now. not ever. Life is too short to waste it setting at, or waiting to use, a charging station and then driving another 200 miles or less to do it all over again.
That flushing sound is your tax dollars down the drain.
We gave more money to the Ukraine to do what exactly, but here is a relatively tiny amount for “manufacturing”. Smoke and mirrors this won’t do much.
“to do what exactly” – even if only a rhetorical question this is depressing. How could you not know (unless you lived in Russia where you can be forgiven for being misinformed). Also, the “money” that you are concerned about was given to Americam arms manufacturers to produce weapons to replace what was shipped to them so they can defend themselves. I haven’t heard one arms manufacturer complain about getting the business.
The Department of Energy announced $2B of grant funding paid by unwilling taxpayers focused on overhauling or repurposing automotive factories to build electrified vehicles that few people want, fewer buy and most of those who do wish they hadn’t. What a country!
A country without the infrastructure to be able to charge all these vehicles. A country with no plan that has been revealed to maintain the roads once the gas tax and the asphalt is gone.
Being forced to pay for an electric vehicle you will never buy is akin to paying off the rich kid’s college tuition you could never afford for yourself.
Another case of the government picking winners and losers with our tax money !
Spending money we don’t have to build things we don’t want…….
Ask yourself why are companies like fiskers rivian and tesla all in financial trouble. Why does the government have to subsidize ev manufacturing? Why are new and used gas powered car prices skyrocketing? It’s because evs are an inferior technology. They only exist now because they are being forced on the public by a political party that is trying to solve a problem (climate change) that they know themselves does not exist,but will give them more power.
AMEN Paul S!!!! So true!!