iPhone builder Foxconn is dangling a massive electric vehicle project in front of Wisconsin after burning the state with promises of a multibillion-dollar LCD factory that never happened. The Taiwanese conglomerate has also already fallen behind its own arbitrary deadline for choosing where it will build the EV factory.
The Taiwanese conglomerate said Friday that it has started talks to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) about making EVs with California startup Fisker Inc. at the mostly empty site it owns in the state. This is despite chairman Young Liu saying in March that he would decide between building EVs in Mexico or Wisconsin by July 1st, and Foxconn and the WEDC agreeing to a far smaller tax subsidy package in April that reflected the failure of the LCD project.
Why did Foxconn take a new deal with the WEDC in April when it knew it had EV ambitions in March, only to announce another negotiation with the state in July? Well, because that’s how things go with Foxconn in Wisconsin.
THE ConGLOMERATE COULD STILL CHOOSE MEXICO OR ELSEWHERE
“As part of the site selection process, Foxconn and Fisker have engaged with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to discuss plans for electric vehicle manufacturing,” Foxconn said in a statement. Foxconn and Fisker Inc. first announced their partnership in February and have since shared that they plan to build a low-cost electric sedan, currently called Project PEAR, which stands for “Personal Electric Automotive Revolution.” The two companies signed a framework agreement in May.
If Foxconn ultimately does move forward with trying to build EVs in Wisconsin, it would be another huge promise to a state and a workforce that it has already mightily burned by the company. Foxconn broke ground on the Wisconsin facility in 2018 and said it would invest $10 billion and build a 20 million-square-foot factory that would pump out LCD panels. Former President Donald Trump said it would be the “eighth wonder of the world.” The whole effort was supposed to create 13,000 jobs. In return, the company was going to get $4 billion in tax credits and other incentives from state and local governments. The local government in Mount Pleasant demolished entire neighborhoods to clear land for the proposed factory.
