Ford has selected Romulus as the location for its $100 million Ion Park battery research center.
The project is part of a larger “$185 million investment in developing, testing, and building vehicle battery cells and cell arrays.” Ford said it plans to invest $30 billion in electrification by 2025, with a commitment to making Michigan a centerpiece of its focus on electric vehicles.
In what is being called Phase One, the company is expecting to employ 200 full-time engineers within 18 months of the site being renovated. The 270,000-square-foot facility was formerly part of space operated by battery maker A123 Systems, which, in 2017, announced it was closing the location because of limited demand at the time for electric vehicle batteries in North America, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.
In the years since, each of the Detroit Three has made major commitments to boost electric vehicle production.
In its announcement Tuesday, Ford touted both current and soon-to-arrive electric vehicles.
“Ford already is delivering on our plan to lead the electric revolution with strong new vehicles including Mustang Mach-E, 2022 E-Transit available late 2021 and the 2022 F-150 Lightning available from spring next year,” Anand Sankaran, Ford Ion Park director, said in a news release. “The new lab will help Ford speed up the battery development process to deliver even more capable, affordable batteries and is part of Ford’s renewed commitment to making Michigan a centerpiece of its focus on EVs.”
Ford spokesman Martin Gunsberg said the company has now purchased the property, which is at Ecorse and Cogswell roads. When asked about the purchase price, he said that’s part of the $100 million investment.
In its announcement, Ford noted that it had “also repositioned its half-century-old Van Dyke Transmission Plant in May — renaming it the Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center and expanding its production line to produce electric motors and electric transaxles for hybrid and fully electric vehicles, retaining a total of 225 Michigan jobs.”
A Free Press report in April on Ford’s plan to build Ion Park said that “part of the inspiration for this effort is driven by supply chain challenges in recent months that have created costly disruptions in the automotive industry and others.”
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer praised the project.
“Ford’s investment in battery research and development in Romulus will support hundreds of good-paying jobs, attract innovative talent to Michigan, and help us continue leading the world in advanced mobility and manufacturing,” Whitmer said in a news release.
The announcement of the Romulus site selection was paired with an approval by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. of a renaissance zone transfer. Renaissance zones allow companies and residents within the area to avoid certain taxes, including local real property taxes and Michigan’s 6-mill state education tax.
Officials on Tuesday said the value of the designation would be $1 million over the remaining four years of the zone designation. Tax benefits decrease in the final three years of any zone designation, according to the MEDC.
“The zones were designed to provide selected communities with a market-based incentive of reduced state or local taxes to encourage new jobs and investment,” according to the MEDC. “Since the program’s inception (in 1996), the local units of government have indicated over 640 projects, which will result in the creation of over 10,100 jobs and over $3 billion in private investment.”
Free Press staff writer JC Reindl contributed to this report.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence. Become a subscriber.