With numerous car companies making efforts to spend more money on electric vehicles, Tennessee has emerged as the spot to build their factories.
A recent report from the Wall Street Journal depicted how Tennessee is emerging as the leader in electric-vehicle and battery production. Ford Motor Co. had shared that they would be developing a large complex to make electric vehicles and batteries in West Tennessee.
Similar investments were made by General Motors and Volkswagen, who are adding electric vehicle production at their Tennessee assembly plants.
Ford initially looked at 85 potential locations across more than a dozen states before settling on western Tennessee.
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Lisa Drake, Ford’s operations chief for North America and the point person on site selection, shared with the Journal that the company was looking for a large empty property, cheap and reliable energy derived from renewable sources, access to rail and interstates, and reasonably close in proximity to Ford’s other assembly plants.
Drake added that the team quickly narrowed its list when they found the nearly 6-square-mile site in rural Tennessee, just 40 miles outside of downtown Memphis. The land is sat atop the Memphis Sand Aquifer, which could be used to generate geothermal power.
“When we heard that, our eyes sort of lit up,” Drake said.
Tennessee has been a hotspot for electric vehicle manufacturers because of the efforts by state leaders and the federal Tennessee Valley Authority, the electrical provider for the region. The TVA offers inexpensive and relatively reliable energy along with other incentives that have caught the attention of many.
With energy costs being a significant consideration for the battery factories because of how much electricity they use, the decision was made even simpler for Ford.
