Brunswick County EV battery plant delayed. Here's why and what's ahead

Brunswick County EV battery plant delayed. Here's why and what's ahead

The manufacturing plant, planned for the Mid-Atlantic Industrial Rail Park at the Brunswick-Columbus county line, is eventually expected to employ roughly 500 workers

Gareth McGrath

USA TODAY NETWORK

July 3, 2025, 5:02 a.m. ET

• Epsilon Advanced Materials' $650 million electric vehicle battery factory in Brunswick County, NC, is moving forward despite political and economic headwinds.
• The project's timeline has been pushed back 12-18 months, with groundbreaking now anticipated in Q1 2026.
• The company aims to capitalize on the push for domestic manufacturing and secure supply chains amid rising trade tensions.

Despite moves by President Donald Trump to cut tax breaks for clean energy projects and generally make it more difficult for them to move forward, developers of a proposed electric vehicle battery factory in Brunswick County say the project is still accelerating ahead.

But there have been changes to the project's timeline in the wake of the administration's recent policy decisions, general disdain toward non-traditional energy proposals, and the public's slower adoption of electric vehicles than originally forecast.

"While we have made minor adjustments to our project timeline in response to recent tariff changes and market volatility, we remain on track," said Sunit Kapur, chief executive officer of Epsilon Advanced Materials, in an emailed statement. "Groundbreaking is anticipated in Q1 2026, with operations expected to commence in the second half of 2027."

A changing landscape

In October 2023, then-Gov. Roy Cooper visited Brunswick County to announce Epsilon's plan to construct a $650 million, 1.5-million-square-foot manufacturing facility at a sprawling industrial park on the Brunswick-Columbus county border.

The Mumbai, India-based company planned to break ground in 2024, with the first part of the factory opening in 2026. When completely built out, the plant would employ 500 making battery components to support companies around the world.

Cooper said analysts predict this project alone will lift North Carolina's economy by $1.3 billion over the next 12 years. The governor added this project puts North Carolina "on the front end" of the clean energy industry and will allow the state to "reap the amazing economic benefits" of the movement.

But fast-forward nearly two years and the world is a much different place than it was back then. Gone is the Biden administration, which financially and vocally supported clean energy projects, and in its wake is a White House that is openly scornful of "green" projects and has tried to claw back federal support and end tax breaks for clean energy initiatives.

The imposition of tariffs on global trading partners and Trump's "America First" approach to manufacturing, particularly the automotive sector, also has scrambled business plans and forecasts for many companies.

'Ensure a secure, stable supply'

While the pair of large offshore wind farms planned to be built just south of Brunswick County appear to be in considerable danger of sinking away, Epsilon says the same isn't true for its EV battery plant.

While yes, the project has been delayed 12-18 months, it is still moving forward despite the changed political and economic landscape.

Kapur said Epsilon has already secured several of the project's state permits, with the stormwater permit expected to be issued in the coming weeks. Notably, a $115.5 million tax credit award from the federal government also appears to still be in place, he added. The project also has been awarded $3.44 million in job-creation tax credits by the state, a $3 million infrastructure grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation, and Brunswick County invested $19 million acquiring land for the project. Brunswick Community College and Epsilon also announced plans to team up to help train workers for the new plant.

Kapur said Epsilon also sees an opportunity to ride the recent push to move manufacturing back onto U.S. shores instead of relying on international partners, both to evade Trump's tariffs and to secure supply chains in the midst of rising trade tensions.

"These factors are driving strong interest among our customers, who increasingly prefer domestically produced anode materials to mitigate tariff exposure, comply with evolving regulations, and ensure a secure, stable supply," he said.

While slowing down, electric vehicle adoption in the U.S. also is still growing.

According to a report by Atlas Public Policy and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, there were roughly 110,000 EVs registered in North Carolina as of December 2024, with EVs accounting for about 7.2% of vehicle sales. That ranked the Tar Heel State No. 3 in the Southeast, behind Florida and just trailing Georgia, and No. 24 in the nation.

Nationally, EVs accounted for just over 10% of new vehicle sales last year.

Even if the growth of the state's EV market is slowing, investment in the business sector continues to be strong in the Tar Heel State.

According to the Atlas/Clean Energy report, North Carolina has seen nearly $20.4 billion in EV investment, ranking the state No. 2 in the Southeast behind Georgia. That corresponds to an estimated 16,250 jobs, with an annual growth rate of 4%.

Major EV investments in N.C. include Toyota's $14 billion battery plant in Randolph County, which is forecast to start production later this year, and the $4 billion VinFast EV car plant in Chatham County, although that project has been delayed several years.

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.