EV battery plant a chance for St. Thomas

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A Volkswagen dealership nearing completion on Wharncliffe Street in London is now the only sign of new expenditure by the automaker in Southwestern Ontario.

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But there are growing indications Volkswagen, and potentially some other automakers, have their eyes on a 323-hectare (800 acres) parcel of land north of St. Thomas.

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Although the automaker and municipal officers have “nothing to share at this time”, the land south of Ron McNeil Line and east of Highbury Avenue was teaming with land surveyors on Thursday.

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The industrial-sizing plot was secured by the Metropolis of St. Thomas past summer time.

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At the time, St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston acknowledged there were being rumblings of financial investment by EV makers in Southwestern Ontario.

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“Lots of speak on electric powered vehicles and the batteries they use,” Preston informed CTV London.

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The chat has only amplified considering the fact that then.

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A German enterprise newspaper has claimed Volkswagen is taking into consideration Ontario for an EV battery manufacturing facility and has retrained true estate and authorized consultants.

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Even more, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Marketplace, François-Philippe Champagne, a short while ago visited Volkswagen officers in Germany.

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Whilst neither of all those developments indicates St. Thomas will in the end land the plant, an business insider say the area is in the hunt.

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“What I would say is, it is unquestionably on a shorter-checklist of a series of trader considerations”, states Flavio Volpe, the president of the Automotive Elements Manufactures Association of Canada.

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Volpe states St. Thomas is wise to put together its land speedily as various Canadian automakers seem for places to develop EV batteries and create an approximated 2500 jobs.

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With Windsor now landing a $5-billion expenditure in a battery plant, Volpe claims indications are this area is very likely the subsequent halt.

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“St. Thomas and London have been translated into numerous pitch paperwork above the previous 12 months or so,” he confirmed.

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Even if Volkswagen does not create in St. Thomas, Volpe predicts a different automaker will.

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“The ideal locations to secure the suitable kind of labour, the suitable plot of land with multi-transportation access and inside a cluster of component and device suppliers is in London and St. Thomas.”

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Other Canadian automakers who have but to construct an EV battery plant consist of Toyota and Ford.

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When neither is acknowledged to be seeking at the St. Thomas web-site, the latter’s return would be a homecoming for the automaker, which shut its Ford St. Thomas Assembly Plant in 2012.

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While Volpe would make it apparent any scenario is achievable, he thinks St. Thomas, London and Volkswagen would be a great in good shape.

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“If you want to create a local community city and you are a Volkswagen, I don’t know which a single would be superior to go to. I necessarily mean the neighborhood will absolutely take up you.”

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(With Documents from CTV London’s Gerry Dewan)

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