Electric vehicle battery plant with 2,000 jobs coming to Bowling Green
Gov. Andy Beshear, company executives and legislative leaders announced plans for a $2 billion, 2,000-job electric vehicle battery plant in Bowling Green at a press conference on Wednesday.
Envision AESC, a Japanese electric vehicle battery company, plans to power up to 300,000 vehicles per year by 2027 at a 512-acre site in the South Central Kentucky city.
The plant will be the 2nd largest private investment in Kentucky’s history, Beshear said. The news comes on the heels of the largest private investment in the state’s history, a massive $5.8 billion electric vehicle battery plant funded by Ford and South Korean company SK Innovations.
Beshear said those two plants, about 80 miles apart, will make Kentucky the center of the electric vehicle battery manufacturing universe.
“The addition of this new facility will make Kentucky the new gigafactory capital of the U.S., well positioned to meet the forecasted growth of EVs and attract future investment,” Envision AESC U.S. Managing Director Jeff Deaton said.
The governor has repeatedly emphasized that the Kentucky economy under his direction is “on fire.”
Executives said the ‘gigafactory’ will be powered by 100% renewable energy, supplied by onsite generation and purchased locally from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). According to a press release, the plant will produce battery cells with 30% more energy density than the current generation, reduced charging time and increased range and efficiency for electric vehicles.
Envision AESC Shoichi Matsumoto said that Beshear and legislative leadership “pulled out all the stops” to make the project happen. The company, he said, has already powered 650,000 electric-powered vehicles in 44 different countries. A press release from the governor’s office said that a package of state incentives worth up to $116.8 million would be provided as well as $5 million in workforce training aid.
Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanan, who’s lead the county for 28 years, said the project is “transformational” for the area.
“It’s the business that will take us into a new era... $2 billion is the biggest investment we’ve had in Warren County or South Central Kentucky,” Buchanan said.
“The scale of this project is like nothing our community has ever seen before. This announcement boasts the largest investment amount, job creation and facility size in our history. It’s phenomenal for the future of our region,” Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott said.
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 11:37 AM.
