Two foreign electric vehicle battery assembly and charging station firms plan to open locations in Detroit, potentially creating 600 or more jobs by the end of the decade.
The firms, U.S. subsidiaries of Australia-based Fortescue Metals Group and Germany-based EcoG GmbH, each received approvals Tuesday for various incentives and inducements from the Michigan Strategic Fund in Lansing to come to Detroit.
The Fortescue project calls for renovating a large 410,000-square-foot industrial building, situated at 530 and 601 Piquette St. in the city’s Milwaukee Junction area, to create modern office and factory space for assembling components of EV batteries for autos and heavy industry.
The Piquette facility, currently vacant, will become Fortescue’s U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Center. The company hopes to undertake interior renovations soon and start up its first battery assembly line in the building by March 2025, according to Judith Judson, CEO of Fortescue WAE.
If all goes well, Fortescue anticipates creating 560 new, full-time-equivalent jobs at the Piquette facility by 2030. The Piquette building was originally two Fisher Body Automotive plants, and most recently was used by New Center Stamping for equipment storage.