Two year delay in EV battery plant construction ‘nothing but good news’: Ford government

On Thursday, PowerCo Canada, a subsidiary of German automaker Volkswagen, announced it would delay the production of the $7 billion giga factory in St. Thomas, Ont. where the company was planning to produce electric vehicle batteries.

The two-year construction delay comes in the wake of other electric vehicle manufacturing investments also pulling up stakes, leaving much of the Ford government’s EV supply chain strategy up in the air.

Ahead of the cabinet meeting, Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli — the architect of the EV strategy — called the construction delay “extremely exciting.”

“There are now shovels in the ground, a company has been hired and awarded contracts, there’s a $7 billion building and infrastructure being built there,” Fedeli said.

Fedeli added that full construction is expected to begin in a month, and that he expects the facility will be able to open ion 2029 as per the schedule.