Federal, provincial officials in Windsor for a 'significant' automotive announcement

Federal and provincial government officials will be in Windsor to make an announcement on Wednesday, following reports that the region will be selected as the site for a new electric vehicle battery plant.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford will be among those in attendance.

In a media release, government officials said a significant announcement about jobs, the future of the auto sector and the "zero-emission economy of tomorrow" would be made, but no further details were provided.

A source who spoke to CBC last week, however, indicated that an electric vehicle battery plant for Windsor-Essex is expected to be announced on Wednesday.

The source confirmed a story from Bloomberg, which first reported that automaker Stellantis — formerly known as Fiat Chrysler — and LG Energy Solution have selected a site in Ontario for the project. 

In October, Stellantis announced it had formed a partnership with LG to build a battery plant in North America, with construction slated to start later this year. The location was "under review" at the time, the company said.

Ahead of the announcement, the prospect of an electric vehicle battery plant being built in Windsor is sparking optimism about what it could mean for the region.

"This will put us on the map, not just here in North America, but globally," said Rakesh Naidu, president and CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce. "There'll be a recognition of what Windsor-Essex can do in terms of not just how good we are in the conventional auto sector, but also in terms of the the new generation of auto technologies, and the new ... EVs sector."

Yvonne Pilon, president and CEO of WEtech Alliance, said she thinks the project would be great for talent retention and start up development in the region.

"There is a lot of technology in the electric vehicle, electric batteries, so from a start up perspective, we look at what this will mean for new companies coming to the region, new companies starting based on, again, a diversified and different supply chain," she said.

"When you think about the different levels of talent needed to power this new industry, a lot of tech talent, software engineers, software developers."

Automotive journalist Kay Lane said Windsor would be a good choice for an EV battery plant for a number of reasons.

"Location, even the source of electricity that it uses," she said. "It's a clean power supply, so it's very reliable."

"They were they were looking for somewhere with zero carbon-emitting sources," Lane said.