Whitmer’s $900K Bet on Green Energy Goes South as Manufacturer She Paid Picks Up and Moves to Red State

Democrat Gretchen Whitmer continued her unbroken streak as one of the worst governors in America when an electric-vehicle battery manufacturer announced plans to abandon Michigan for red state South Carolina — after pocketing $900,000 in tax subsidies and laying off 188 workers.

“It’s the latest example of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s flawed attempt to force Michigan residents into transitioning from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric-battery operated cars and trucks in which billions of taxpayer dollars have been used to subsidize a nascent industry,” The Midwesterner reported.

Akasol Inc., a subsidiary of BorgWarner, will shutter two Michigan plants on April 14 and lay off 188 people as part of its plan to relocate to GOP-controlled South Carolina.

In 2019, Akasol received a $900,000 grant from Michigan to build a $40 million EV battery-manufacturing facility and create 90 jobs.

“Akasol fulfilled its agreement by maintaining the 90 jobs through 2023, which means the company can keep the incentives while it abandons its Michigan operations,” The Midwesterner wrote.

Whitmer was torched on social media for wasting tax money and hanging her constituents out to dry.

Democrat money laundering

— Rick Willing (@WillingRic53128) March 3, 2025

@POTUS EV battery maker takes monies and moves to another state.

— ClamSat (@clamsat_bioptic) March 3, 2025

On the surface, the idea of an eco-friendly, sustainable electric vehicle sounds great.

But so far, EVs have failed to live up to the hype — and they certainly have not earned widespread consumer confidence for reliability, safety, or efficiency amid reports of:

• Spontaneous battery fires;
• Recharging nightmares;
• Limited towing capacity;
• Range malfunctions in cold weather.

Ironically, another major drawback of electric vehicles is how environmentally costly it is to produce them.

“Like any vehicle — they have to mine materials to make the car,” physicist Mark Mills told CBN News in 2022. “You have to mine a lot more materials, metals, to make an electric vehicle than you do a conventional vehicle. By about 1,000 percent on average.”

He explained that miners must use heavy machines that burn diesel oil to dig up 500,000 pounds of earth to make a single, 1,000-pound EV battery.

An electric car requires 6X more minerals than a conventional car.

A typical 1,000 lb electric car battery contains:

190 lbs of graphite
130 lbs of nickel
90 lbs of copper
60 lbs of cobalt
30 lbs of lithiumhttps://t.co/qIxyXnLmWQ pic.twitter.com/FGw842uUX4

— Brian Gitt (@BrianGitt) January 11, 2023

While left-wing activists claim EVs are better for the environment because they supposedly generate zero carbon emissions, their environmental impact is massive.

If you drive an electric vehicle to do your bit to ‘save the planet’, it is more than likely that the vehicle has a battery with cobalt in it.
Over 40,000 child slaves mine the cobalt in horrific conditions in Congo. Electric cars are now the biggest source of cobalt demand. pic.twitter.com/BdniRiapn2

— James Melville 🚜 (@JamesMelville) July 26, 2024

There are many people who love their electric cars. That’s great, but the government should not try to force Americans to switch to EVs.

During his failed presidency, Joe Biden repeatedly tried to transition the U.S. away from oil in favor of so-called green energy alternatives that supposedly combat “climate change.”

However, the market has spoken, and the message is clear: Climate alarmists’ fantasy of an EV-dominated world isn’t happening anytime soon.

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