Gotion exec: EV battery plant near Big Rapids ‘not a done deal’

BY KURT NAGL

Gotion Inc. hopes to move forward with a $2.4 billion EV battery parts plant in the Big Rapids area, but it has a backup plan that could involve leaving the state if the deal falls apart, said Chuck elen, the company’s vice president for North American operations.

Since announcing the plant and plans to create 2,350 jobs last year, the Chinese battery manufacturer has run into some resistance that has caused it to delay construction and recon gure the factory footprint.

e company has remained largely silent amid the uncertainty, but in a ursday interview elen opened up about how Gotion is responding to opposition, o ering details of the planned factory and how it ts into the company’s quest for EV battery dominance — if it comes to fruition.

“A project of this scope takes an awful lot of due diligence, and we’re still performing that, so it’s not a done deal,” elen said. “We are still going through the discussions with the state and the township and the county and making sure this is all still a good t.” e plant, which would be the company’s rst in the U.S. and would make anode and cathode materials for EV batteries, was originally pitched as several buildings totaling 2 million square feet, straddling two townships in Mecosta County. After Big Rapids Township board mem- bers voiced concerns over its ties to China and impact on the water table and environment, the company turned its focus solely onto Green Township. elen said the investment amount and number of jobs created would remain the same in the altered plan.

“If the local population is not wanting the project, and we’re not going to be a orded to be a good corporate citizen, then we would not choose that location, right, that just makes sense,” he said, adding that he is still in talks with Big Rapids Township and “hopeful” about reaching a resolution. elen declined to comment on how political tensions between the U.S. and China might be a ecting the project. elen said the company surveyed 44 locations around the U.S. before landing on the Big Rapids area site, due to the cost and availability of land, labor pool and proximity to Ferris State University, which would serve as the main job training pipeline. e company considered existing buildings, including old General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. plants around the country, but none were tall enough, elen said. e cathode and anode manufacturing process requires large mixing vats and ceilings at least 70 feet high. e typical manufacturing plant is no taller than 50 feet.

Gotion, based in Shanghai and partly owned by Volkswagen, is the world’s sixth largest battery manufacturer with ambitions to be a bigger player. Key to that plan is expansion in the U.S., starting in Michigan.

“So to use a brown eld really didn’t lend itself to this operation,” he said.

See GOTION on Page 20