Electric car maker Lucid Motors on Tuesday said it would build a manufacturing plant in Arizona that would start production in 2018, as it looks to compete in the fast-growing market for luxury electric vehicles.
The company said it chose the Casa Grande location from dozens of other spots around the nation.
Construction of the factory is to begin next year in a move expected to bring an initial 400 jobs. The company projects the plant will have 2,000 workers by 2022.
Lucid, which recently changed its name from Atieva, has been around for a decade, focusing its early years on making batteries. Its staff includes former Tesla employees, including its chief technology officer.
The decision came amid rising demand for electric cars from traditional automakers and Silicon Valley startups such as Lucid.
Tesla Motors is building a battery factory near Reno, Nevada, after receiving a generous US$1.3 billion incentive package from the Nevada legislature.
Faraday Future, another electric car maker, is building a factory near Las Vegas after getting US$335 million from the state, although the project has been stalled amid questions about its funding source.
Automotive jobs took on a prominent role in the recent presidential race as then-Republican candidate Donald Trump repeatedly blasted trade agreements that shifted manufacturing from the Rust Belt to other countries.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has made job creation and a business-friendly climate top priorities of his administration. He previously made a trip to California to lure the Lucid factory.
“It’s a real sign that the state is attractive, that California companies and companies from around the country see Arizona as a great place to do business,” Ducey said.
Lucid is receiving government assistance from the Arizona Commerce Authority that could total in the millions.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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