I’ve spent the past few weeks researching the wave of EV battery plants that are being built across the U.S. and in Canada. I was stunned at how big the investments have become — an estimated $100 billion (with a b), potentially creating thousands of jobs.
I wrote about this for the Boston Globe and I talk about it more in this podcast episode. In my research, I visited Marshall, Mich., a historic town that was once in line to become Michigan’s capital (it lost to Lansing).
If you visit Marshall, you’ll see pretty homes, shops, lovely restaurants. Then, on the edge of town, a big construction site for Ford’s Blue Oval project. An even bigger EV battery plant is going up in Liberty, N.C., where Toyota has invested $14 billion to make batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and eventually, EVs, once it gears up to build them.
Please read my essay and I’d welcome your thoughts on this latest economic engine. The rewards are great, but so are the risks, namely: will Americans really want EVs?
