Big step forward for $5B plant
The EV battery plant is planned between Cartersville and Rome.
The $5 billion electric vehicle battery plant planned between Cartersville and Rome took a big step forward Tuesday with the filing of the development plan with the state.
In an application filed by SK Battery and Bartow County, the initial report calls for a campus covering 3.3 million square feet with construction ending by June 2025.
Called a development of regional impact statement, the overall plan now goes before the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission for a closer look. The commission will analyze the project’s impact on not only the western side of Bartow County off U.S. 411 but connecting services as well.
Richard Osborne, Bartow County’s zoning administrator, says approximately 350 acres closer to U.S. 411 will see the first wave of development. The property, previously zoned for a planned development, was changed to industrial use about a year ago. Additional development on the more than 1,000 acres is expected to follow, he says.
The plan estimates 4,000 vehicle trips per day. That coincides with a workforce projected at 3,500 people after production gets underway in a little over two years.
The development report states: “The project proposes two full access drives and one right-in right-out drive. The two full access drives will be located at existing median breaks in (U.S.) 411. One of the two access drives will require a traffic signal.”
The battery plant is a partnership between Hyundai Motor Group and SK On, and will rival the SK plant off I-85 in the Commerce area on the other side of the state.
The development site is east of the Floyd/ Bartow county line off the north side of U.S.
411 near Bartow Centre. Some preliminary grading work is underway as the project enters the review phase, Osborne says.
The SK/Hyundai project was announced in December although state and local sources had hinted a massive development was being planned close to Northwest Georgia’s red-hot I-75 corridor.
The news only got better in mid-January when Qcells announced a major expansion
in Northwest Georgia, including Bartow County and an additional campus in Dalton.
The company plans an overall $2.5 billion investment, which will see 2,500 jobs when operational. Of those, 2,000 jobs will be coming to Cartersville/Bartow County. The other 510 jobs will be part of Qcells’ third facility near Dalton.
No formal plans have been filed on the Bartow Qcells project as yet.