Electric Cars Are Shifting the Center of the Auto Universe
EV’s are giving the South and Southwest a one-time chance to wrest control of the U.S. automobile industry from the Midwest.
Electric vehicle makers are moving operations to the South.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
One of the biggest economic development arms races in decades is beginning to take shape. A flurry of multi-billion dollar investment decisions from major automakers has combined with growth in consumer sales to make 2021 feel like the inflection point for electric vehicle adoption. And while automakers and governments are setting targets for EV’s future market share — as much as 50% of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2030 — where all of these vehicles will be produced remains an open question. For states in the Southeast and Southwest, it’s an opportunity to wrest control of the automobile industry from its historical home in the Midwest.
As electric vehicles have scraped up a few percent of market share, Tesla Inc.’s model has set the course: retrofit an old automobile production facility (Tesla's facility in Fremont, California, was originally owned by General Motors Co.) and focus on perfecting a handful of innovative products until you've got something consumers want to buy. Rivian Automotive Inc., which is producing electric trucks out of an old Mitsubishi Corp. facility in Normal, Illinois, has used a similar approach.