$1.5B EV battery materials plant to create ‘hundreds’ of jobs in Loyalist Township | Ontario East

$1.5B EV battery materials plant to create ‘hundreds’ of jobs in Loyalist Township

By Steph Crozier, Whig Standard, July 13, 2022

A $1.5-billion industrial electric vehicle materials plant, the first of its kind in North America, is coming to Loyalist Township, creating a minimum of 700 permanent jobs.

“Canada isn’t just going to be a global player in (electric vehicles),” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during the announcement. “With this, and other announcements we’ve made, we demonstrate that we get to be global leaders in electric vehicles.

“This is big news.”

The new, near-carbon-neutral plant will be owned by Umicore N.V., a circular materials technology company based in Belgium. It plans to manufacture cathode active materials and precursor cathode active materials at its new facility located in Millhaven, near County Road 4 and Bath Road. These components are essential to produce electric vehicle batteries.

Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore, said Wednesday morning that the company wants to completely decarbonize the electric vehicle, and he is excited and honoured to announce its plans.

“An electric vehicle should be carbon-free, not only while driving but from the beginning,” Miedreich said. “We are partners in that conviction, and we are very happy to contribute to that.”

Loyalist Township Deputy Mayor Jim Hegadorn told the Whig-Standard that a minimum of 700 permanent jobs will be created.

“This is an amazing time for Loyalist, but the surrounding area is all going to benefit from this,” Hegadorn said. “I’ve been trying to picture just where the bubble would be, and so far I just don’t know because it just depends on what comes after this in the area as well, but the ripple effect is going to be huge.”

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