VinFast, Toyota and more: North Carolina's Battery Belt booms with new factories

North Carolina is becoming a leader in battery production, known by some as the Battery Belt.

People have heard of the Rust Belt, the Corn Belt and the Sun Belt. For decades, North Carolina was known as Tobacco Road or the Tobacco Belt.

Now, battery production could power North Carolina’s economy for the future.

Lithium is a rare, soft metal mined from hard rock in the ground. The metal is extracted and used to make the cells that go into a lithium-ion battery.

Each battery can contain hundreds or thousands of cells.

The batteries are installed in electric vehicles, providing the power for clean-energy transportation.

Mining and EV manufacturing are happening in North Carolina.

Forge Nano CEO Paul Lichty said 2170 battery cells are used in EVs like Tesla vehicles.

His Colorado-based company selected Morrisville, North Carolina, out of 12 sites across the country to build its lithium-ion battery factory.

“We want our employees to work somewhere that they want to be, and North Carolina fit the bill on all fronts,” Lichty said.

At least four companies have announced plans for battery factories in central North Carolina: DAI Nippon Printing, Forge Nano, Toyota and VinFast.

Specifically, Vietnamese automaker VinFast will build EVs in Chatham County, with plans to add a battery plant.

Two mining companies are trying to tap into lithium deposits in the mountains west of Charlotte: Albemarle Corporation and Piedmont Lithium.

Also, Epsilon Advanced Materials is building a manufacturing facility in Brunswick County.

“It’s great seeing these things co-locate and knowing that you’re just down the road from potential customers or suppliers,” Lichty said. “It makes the whole thing a lot smoother.”

Duke Fuqua School of Business professor Ronnie Chatterji echoed Lichty’s sentiments.

“We’re becoming the battery belt for the entire country,” Chatterji said.

Chatterji said each new company adds a link in a growing supply chain.

“Once you get that cluster, it creates an ever increasing dynamic where you’re seeing more investment, more jobs and for the workers,” Chatterji said. “They’ve got lots of options.”

Preparing that workforce to fill thousands of jobs that require training with robotics, automation and artificial intelligence will be a challenge. It may take time to pay off.

“Right now is a really good time to think about investing in batteries and electric vehicles, but it’s not clear where the market’s going to go,” Chatterji said. “Americans might not buy electric vehicles as fast as we think.”

However, North Carolina has invested big time into building up the Battery Belt.

Each celebration of a new company usually comes with the promise of tax incentives.

Toyota could get more than $300 million.

VinFast stands to get more than $1 billion from state and county incentives.

Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders is part of the team that's worked to attract these companies to North Carolina.

“It has taken vision, foresight and investment into North Carolina and the infrastructure to build such an economy if you will – whether that’s education or investment into sites,” Sanders said.

With that infrastructure in place, from the highways to the ports, Sanders says more companies will come along and supercharge the battery belt.

“North Carolina is well-positioned to have continued success in the EV battery and EV manufacturing sector, in the clean-energy sector,” Sanders said.

Since 2017, the state has announced more than 17,500 jobs in clean energy with companies promising more than $22 billion worth of new investment.