- Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina requested that the Trump administration launch funds for the retooling of a Mercedes-Benz electrical van plant.
- The plant is situated in her constituency close to Charleston and helps tons of of well-paying manufacturing jobs, boosting the native economic system.
- The Biden administration awarded $1.8 billion for the retooling of previous and at-risk auto factories.
Republicans is probably not the champions of electrical autos, however a few of them are asking to guard EV manufacturing jobs of their backyards as President Donald Trump’s price range invoice seeks to chop inexperienced incentives.
The most recent instance comes from Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who privately requested Trump to unblock federal funds value $285 million for the retooling of a Mercedes-Benz van meeting plant in Ladson, South Carolina, in accordance with a letter seen by The Washington Publish.
The Biden administration awarded $1.8 billion to assist the conversion of 13 shuttered or at-risk auto manufacturing and meeting vegetation in 10 U.S. states. That was accomplished below the Inflation Discount Act’s Home Manufacturing Conversion Grant Program.
2025 Mercedes-Benz eSprinter
“Congresswoman Mace has all the time raised issues about reckless federal spending,” Sydney Lengthy, Mace’s spokesperson, mentioned in a press release. “However as soon as the cash is out the door, she’s all the time fought to convey jobs and funding house to South Carolina,” she added. “We imagine that federal investments ought to proceed to prioritize initiatives with sustained financial development.”
The plant already helps about 2,300 direct and oblique jobs, in accordance with Mercedes-Benz. An extra 800 jobs are reportedly tied to the $285 million grant to assist the manufacturing of a brand new light-duty electrical van prototype, as per the report.
That is possible a brand new mannequin based mostly on the automaker’s Van.ea platform that is anticipated to go on sale subsequent yr.
Mercedes VAN.EA prototype
Picture by: Mercedes-Benz
The federal grant would entice further funding within the area, Mace reportedly mentioned within the letter. An identical sample is seen in Georgia, one other state with billions of {dollars} value of EV manufacturing vegetation, the place $1 of federal funding attracted over $4.50 of personal funding as effectively.
Mace’s letter comes because the Trump administration makes an attempt to dismantle the Biden-era clear vitality push. The Senate spending invoice, if handed, will finish the federal tax credit for shoppers and in addition throw out the grants for EV and battery manufacturing, 85% of that are situated in Republican states and are linked to tens of hundreds of well-paying American jobs.
The plant, known as Mercedes-Benz Vans Charleston, manufactures the Sprinter and eSprinter vans for the U.S. and Canadian markets. The automaker offered practically 50,000 items of the Sprinter within the U.S. final yr, of which solely 828 have been the eSprinter vans, with the remaining being the gas-powered variations.
Based on the Division of Power web sitethe funds for retooling had already been awarded and have been “out the door,” so it is unclear why they continue to be frozen. Mercedes-Benz didn’t instantly reply to InsideEVs’ request for remark on the time of publication.
The letter, led by Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Republican from Virginia, additionally critiques the spending invoice for inflicting a “vital disruption” to scrub vitality initiatives. “Whereas we have been proud to have labored to make sure that the invoice didn’t embody a full repeal of the clear vitality tax credit, we stay deeply involved by a number of provisions,” the letter states.
The IRA grants for the retooling of at-risk factories have been additionally awarded to a dozen different firms, together with $500 million to Common Motors for the EV conversion of its Lansing, Michigan facility, $200 million to Volvo for the manufacturing of electrical freight vans in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland, and practically $600 million to Stellantis for its vegetation in Belvidere, Illinois and Kokomo, Indiana.
Have a tip? Contact the creator: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com
