GREEN CHARTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Gotion set out to connect with the Green Charter Township community Monday night with a town hall. This comes as the company continues to get pushback for its planned EV battery plant.
The virtual town hall had numerous attendees as Gotion discussed new updates for their proposed battery facility.
"Those renderings follow Gotion standards worldwide. We like to have nice-looking buildings that are soundproof, and we also like to have nice-looking facilities out front," said Vice President of Manufacturing Chuck Thelen.
The meeting allowed Gotion to give updates and answer questions about the proposed $2.4 billion EV battery plant in Green Charter Township.
Gotion has faced controversy and backlash from the community since the start of the project, because some believe the company is linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
Even in the midst of tension, Thelen said they are now putting together submissions for the facility.
"We are now putting together our submissions for the large-scale permissions, the bigger ones. That goes with air, water quality...these types of things. So we will use the environmental study that we conducted in spring of 2023 which is very extensive. I know we received some criticism that we didn't do an environmental impact study, you don't really do an environmental impact study for something like this," said Thelen.
While community members couldn't come in physically during the town hall, they were able to ask questions like how many jobs could come from the project and the water usage from the project.
Right now the company is currently suing Green Charter Township, claiming the township is in violation of a development agreement, agreed to by the previous township board.
Leaders at the meeting focused on the project itself and the plan to break ground this year. Gotion said the plan for production is expected to be done by January of 2026.
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