FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

February 10, 2023 

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ICYMI: U.S. Automakers Aim to Make Detroit Next Silicon Valley 

LANSING, Mich. — In a new piece from Newsweek, Michigan is recognized as a leading hub for high-tech mobility development and manufacturing. Since 2019, Michigan has announced 30,000 new auto jobs, expanded investments in critical industries manufacturing chips and batteries, and revamped our economic competitiveness with a bipartisan plan to attract businesses to the state. These record investments have led to Michigan being named one of three states poised to “dominate” electric vehicle battery manufacturing in the United States by 2030 in a new report. Governor Whitmer will continue to work with anyone to build on Michigan’s strong economic momentum and leadership role in the future of mobility and electrification. 

Newsweek: U.S. Automakers Aim to Make Detroit the Next Silicon Valley 

For years U.S. automakers have been putting lots of money into developing digital technology, ranging from drivetrains and batteries for electric vehicles to a broad range of hardware and software connecting cars to the internet and to make them self-driving. Increasingly that money is being invested close to U.S. automaking's ancestral home. Ford Motor Company, General Motors (GM) and Stellantis, the multinational whose 14 brands include Chrysler and Jeep, have all funded mobility and software engineering projects in Michigan lately. 

Silicon Valley has noticed. Christian D. Malesic, president/CEO of the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce, says "We're still number one in angel investors.... But I can also see the tech industry of Michigan expanding, especially as the car and computer start to blend even more." 

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Recently Ford has turned its funding attention to Michigan with major investments in the downtown Detroit area, focusing on building a creative and technological base of operations near its home in Dearborn. The company spent $90 million buying the Michigan Central Station in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit in 2018 with plans to turn it into a hub of mobility, automation and electrification. The development will also feature new public amenities for local residents like green spaces, walking and biking trails and public art. Last February, Google joined the project. 

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"The Detroit area is becoming a center of competence for user experience technology and many of the suppliers that exist in Silicon Valley now have representation in Michigan," Vince Gallante, VP of global user experience design at Stellantis tells Newsweek. "We're supporting all 14 of Stellantis' brands with hires from Apple, Disney and Microsoft." 

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Meanwhile, GM has invested $4 billion to convert its Orion Township assembly plant to the production of full-size EV pickups and up to $2.5 billion to build an Ultium battery cell plant in Lansing as part of a joint venture with South Korea's LG Energy Solution. To support the investments, the state-run Michigan Strategic Fund approved a $600 million grant for the creation of up to 4,000 jobs related to the two projects. 

In addition to its Ultium partnership with GM, LG is also opening battery manufacturing facilities in Holland, Michigan. According to LG, the state was chosen over competing sites in the southeast U.S. and overseas. According to a recent CNBC report, Michigan, along with Georgia and Kentucky, are poised to dominate U.S. electric vehicle battery manufacturing by 2030. 

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The investments in Michigan go beyond traditional automaking, with dozens of upcoming projects—including solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and a road that charges EVs as they drive on it—set to be funded with federal money from the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act. The new law also includes a range of tax credits for buyers of EVs. 

"Our governor and industry leaders fundamentally believe that you can build a stronger state economy through safer, more equitable and environmentally sound transportation for all residents. And that involves industry growth," Pawl says. "But that also involves community vitality. It also involves using the technologies being developed in your state, by your brightest people to solve real problems in our communities, not just in Detroit or Flint or Battle Creek, but in northern Michigan."