LEBANON

Lebanon in center of Biden’s EV goals with announcement of manufacturing facility and 500 jobs

Andy Humbles
Nashville Tennessean
With a Tritium electric vehicle charger in the background, President Joe Biden speaks about electric vehicles during an event in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Washington. Jane Hunter, CEO of Tritium, listens at right. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A company that creates technology to build DC fast chargers for electric vehicles will open a manufacturing facility in Lebanon that will create up to 500 jobs in the next five years.

Tritium will use the former Toshiba space within Baird Industrial Park on Toshiba Drive in Lebanon, Mayor Rick Bell said.

President Joe Biden lauded the facility that is expected to begin production in Lebanon in the fall, according to Tritium CEO Jane Hunter at an announcement in Washington D.C.

“It’s going to have a ripple effect, beyond, far beyond the one state," Biden said. "This is great news for workers across the country, for (the) economy and frankly for the planet."

Tritium's Lebanon facility will have an initial capacity to build more than 10,000 fast-charging units per year with room to expand up to 30,000 annually, Hunter said. The facility will house six production lines.

The approximate 120,000 square feet of space will be renovated, said Joint Economic & Community Development Board of Wilson County Director G.C. Hixson.

President Joe Biden speaks about domestic manufacturing, unions and electric vehicles in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Washington. U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, second from right, joined the president at the event. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

"I think it addresses a concern of electric vehicle industry where you can actually fast charge a vehicle in 15 or 20 minutes," Hixson said. "It's a major growth industry, a real opportunity. They have a product that can really address the traveling industry."

Related:Get ready for an electric vehicle fast-charging network coming all across Tennessee

Discussions have included the possibility of future expansion and "hopefully some support industries will come as well," Bell said.

"These are types of businesses and jobs we’ve been looking to recruit for a long time," Bell said. "This is first step in what will be many more businesses like this coming to Lebanon.”

Biden has set a goal and plan to reach 50% of electric vehicle sale shares in the U.S. by 2030.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes more than $7 billion in funding to secure an American EV supply chain, and $7.5 billion to build out the first-ever nationwide public EV charging network.

The president credited U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, and Republican Gov. Bill Lee as an example of effective bi-partisan politics that helped land Tritium.

.Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @ AndyHumbles.