An electric vehicle manufacturer is eying locations for its first manufacturing site in the U.S. and is considering putting the facility in Texas.
After whittling down possible locations, ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp. (Nasdaq: SOLO), which is based in Vancouver, Canada, announced it's looking to put a 200-employee manufacturing facility in one of seven states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee or Texas.
The facility will build the SOLO, a three-wheeled, electric car that holds one person. It could one day build other vehicles in the facility, too.
ElectraMeccanica has sent an initial request for proposals to each of the seven states' economic development entities. The company plans to announce its lead location and back-up sites in the third quarter this year.
Tom Stringer, leader for the National Site Selection & Business Incentives Practice at BDO USA, said the facility could be either new construction or take over existing infrastructure. He said one of the key factors in choosing a location will be the ability to develop a talent pipeline to work at the facility producing electric vehicles.
"It's not quite automotive, it's not quite aerospace," Stringer said about the required talent. "It's a combination thereof in the EV space."
Stringer said each one of the locations they've examined thus far have different characteristics, whether it be rural areas near universities or locations near major cities. Stringer declined to say whether his team has specifically evaluated North Texas.
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