Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery maker Gotion High-tech has received the US nod for a $2 billion lithium battery manufacturing plant in Manteno, Illinois.
“Gotion’s battery technology will help to boost e-mobility in North America and the economic and trade exchanges between China and the United States,” said Gotion chairman Li Zhen.
The approval comes at a time of heightened tensions between the US and China, and an intense trade and technology war.
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Gotion’s move also follows a push by global EV battery makers and automakers to set up manufacturing facilities in North America, eyeing incentives of the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Gotion will be eligible to receive tax benefits totalling $213 million over 30 years and also get $125 million in capital funding from the US state’s Reimagining Energy and Vehicles incentive package.
The battery-maker’s property tax abatement for 30 years was also approved by local authorities.
Once completed, Gotion’s facility in Manteno is expected to produce 10 GWh of lithium-ion battery packs and 40 GWh of lithium-ion battery cells, according to a statement from the state governor on Friday.
The plant, which would create about 2,600 new jobs, is expected to begin production in 2024.
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