The author is completely clueless. We all lose when states bid for politically correct industry. The most obvious way is that the other states lose. The second problem is that political correctness does not solve engineering or economic problems, it exacerbates them. In this case we have the relatively rare and expensive lithium being wasted on overpowered cars and uneconomical home power storage.
SOURCE:
http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/08/tesla-lithium-gigafactory-mexico/
EXCERPT:
Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is interested in buying lithium compound from a mining site in Mexico and has reportedly entered into a deal with two mining companies: Bacanora Minerals Ltd. and Rare Earth Minerals.
Since the mine is not functional yet, the companies are required to raise funds for the construction of a mine and processing facilities in two years’ time.
Tesla may provide funding for the site
Both firms project that 35,000 tons of lithium compound (namely, lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate) will be supplied per year once the mine is up and running. Eventually, the output will expand to 50,000 tons per year, according to the supply contract published by Bacanora.
Once the mine becomes operational, Tesla will purchase a minimum amount of lithium hydroxide from Bacanora Minerals and Rare Earth Minerals over five years. This agreement could be extended after the agreed-upon period. The mining companies, in exchange, offer their mined materials to Tesla at rates below market prices, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
While everyone was praising Trump for preventing Ford Jobs from going to Mexico, the reality is that Ohio was offering incentives that are being withdrawn in Michigan.
While I hate the jobs moving to Ohio I am glad to see the incentives withdrawn. I don’t buy the “Don’t hate the player, hate the game” BS. We either stand on principle or we don’t.