Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Envision AESC, a world-leading Japanese electric vehicle battery technology company, along with Governor Henry McMaster, announced it will build a state-of-the-art battery cell gigafactory in Florence County. The $810 million investment will create 1,170 new jobs and will support the company’s multi-year partnership with the BMW Group.

AESC will supply technology-leading battery cells to be used in the next generation electric vehicle models produced at the BMW Group’s Plant Spartanburg. Located in an 870-acre Technology and Commerce Park in Florence, with convenient proximity to the interstate and Inland Port Dillon, the Florence plant will encompass approximately 1.5 million square feet. The new battery plant builds on AESC’s existing United States network that includes a battery manufacturing plant in Tennessee and a plant under construction in Kentucky.

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development awarded a $135 million Closing Fund grant to Florence County to assist with costs related to the project, and the state authorized the issuance of up to $70 million in state general economic development bonds to offset the costs of off-site infrastructure and a training center to support the project. The Coordinating Council for Economic Development also awarded job development credits related to this project.

This project, along with the Scout Motors announcement earlier this year, signifies Gov McMasters “leap of faith” into all things electric The tax incentives/breaks given out for these two business deals, show his commitment to the Electric Vehicle vision of the Biden administration.

AESC claims to power the new plant using “net zero system solutions” and are “committed to pursuing responsible sources of cobalt, lithium etc” but are vague in how they plan to achieve either. Over 90% of rare earth materials are produced in China with zero environmental standards and renewable sources of energy are inadequate to produce enough energy to power this manufacturing plant.

Ford Motors announced close to 5 billion in losses due to its investments in the Electric vehicle market.

In addition, over 4000 auto dealers have written to the Biden administration to “ease up” on the mandates regarding Electric vehicles. EV’s are sitting in dealerships across the US due to the higher cost compared to traditional gas powered vehicles & lackluster sales.

The Scout motor project was expedited through our state house with little debate, while offering huge tax incentives. The incentives offered above for the AESC project are substantial as well. It appears that our governor has jumped on the bandwagon to establish a foothold in the EV market, however, as evidenced by Ford and the multitude of car dealers across the country, the jury is still out with regard to the state and federal governments expectations of EV’s.

Any time a business elects to invest in SC, it has a positive effect in our state. However, the level of incentives offered (The $1.291 billion incentive package also included $400 million for the company to build facilities on the site; a $200 million loan for soil stabilization (paid back at 5 percent interest); $25 million to build a publicly owned Midlands Technical College training center for employment with Scout Motors; and $16 million for property acquisition for construction of the railroad spur to the site) and promises made, seems to be a large gamble of taxpayer dollars, given the current state of the overall EV market.

States across the country compete for business by offering tax incentives; that is the cost of doing business. However, the total amount committed to the Scout & AESC deals are substantial with regard to state funds allocated for business development. The current administration is “all in” with the green new deal. If a Republican administration takes over in 2024, most of the federal incentives are sure to disappear. Governments backing new business through subsidies/incentives commonly fail to reach initial expectations.

(See Solyndra of the Obama administration).

Deals of this nature are suspect, due to the speed of the announcement and passage through our state legislature. It’s always troubling when government entities appear to be picking winners in the manufacturing and business environment. Until our elected leaders provide transparency of ALL campaign contributions, the common citizen will never know what motivates their representatives from voting a certain way. Establishment Republicans & Democrats that make up the “Uni-Party” seem content with the status quo. One hopes that this endeavor into the EV industry will be prosperous for South Carolina, however, all trends seem to lead towards folly.