Electric Vehicle Component Manufacturing Expands in Tennessee and North Carolina

An EV Go station for charging electric vehicles in Irvine, Calif., on March 25, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Incentives to switch to electric vehicles are growing in the neighboring states of Tennessee and North Carolina.

On Nov. 28, the Tennessee State Funding Board approved one of the largest cash grants in Tennessee history to win an economic development deal with LG Chem Ltd., a company that plans to invest $3.2 billion to develop a cathode materials plant for electric vehicle batteries.

LG Chem, a South Korean corporation, announced its plans to build a plant in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Nov. 21.

According to Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s office, the $3.2 billion deal represents the “single largest announced foreign direct investment in Tennessee’s history.”

The plant would potentially provide 860 manufacturing jobs in Clarksville. The facility would be the largest of its kind and is expected to produce 120,000 tons of cathode material annually by 2027.

According to the current plan, the facility would be constructed on 420 acres, with construction slated to begin in 2023.

The facility will produce advanced cathode materials containing nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum for electric vehicle batteries.

President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has emphasized a crusade to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, an act providing federal incentives to companies that create policies that cater to the theory of human-caused climate change.

This had led to corporate demand for renewable technology that proponents of climate change say has less of an impact on the environment than nonrenewables.

Renewable Problems

However, The Epoch Times has previously reported that mining to retrieve these minerals could create a larger environmental impact with guaranteed shortages in the future while contributing to social instability and violations of human rights.

Organizations like the International Energy Agency (IEA) state that renewable technology requires more minerals than fossil fuels.

According to the IEA, there are two major nations that control mining and supply, which sets up the United States for a potentially problematic foreign relations scenario.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and China are responsible for the production of a significant percentage of rare earth elements and cobalt.

Researchers at Northwestern University evaluated the social life cycle within the culture of cobalt mining within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In their research, they found that cobalt mining resulted in social strife such as violence, physical and mental health issues, and the loss of farmland and homes, which are dug up to mine for cobalt.

The study also points to increased child labor, estimating that up to 40,000 children are working in the mines under slave labor conditions.

A woman and a man separate cobalt from mud and rocks near a mine between Lubumbashi and Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 31, 2015. Federico Scoppa/AFP/Getty Images

North Carolina’s Initiatives

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced his plan to promote the transition of heavy-duty vehicles such as tractor-trailers, school buses, delivery vans, and garbage and utility trucks to zero-emission electric vehicles.

At the North Carolina Medium- and Heavy-Duty Electrification Bootcamp on Nov. 29, Cooper stated that “North Carolina has already made great progress in electric vehicle manufacturing, and we’re well-positioned to be at the head of the global market transition to zero-emission vans, buses and trucks. We’ll continue working with businesses and manufacturers across the state to strengthen our economy, create jobs and confront the climate crisis.”

In September 2022, Cooper announced that Wolfspeed Inc., a manufacturer of the rare mineral semiconductor silicon carbide, will invest $5 billion over the next eight years to build a facility in Chatham County, North Carolina, on a 445-acre site.

Driving on Sunshine

Amid soaring gas prices, the Biden administration has continued to advocate for Americans to switch to electric vehicles. The average cost to buy an electric vehicle in the United States was $66,000 as of June 2022 according to Kelly Blue Book.

In March, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Biden told Americans that they would save on gas if they purchased electric vehicles.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm took it a step further with a statement that some have argued reflects the administration’s disconnection with reality.

In an interview with Whoopi Goldberg on ABC’s “The View,” Granholm told Goldberg, “I have solar panels on my house, so I drive on sunshine.”

Katie Spence contributed to this report.