Rendering contributed by Volkswagen / Volkswagen’s MEB platform for its planned electric vehicles features a skateboard look for the battery system that sits at the bottom of the chassis.NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed $38.55 billion budget for 2019-2020 includes a $50 million state cash grant for Volkswagen’s planned $800 million electric vehicle plant in Chattanooga.
Lee released his recommended state spending plan Monday evening during his first annual State of the State address to the General Assembly.
Meanwhile, the city of Chattanooga is putting up $2.5 million and Hamilton County is matching that figure with another $2.5 million in local incentives for the new Volkswagen electric vehicle facility, which is expected to add another 1,000 workers to the existing plant operations.
That’s a total of $55 million for direct incentives in the project. VW already employs 3,800 workers who make the Passat sedan, the Atlas sport utility vehicle and, soon, a five-seat version of the SUV.
The incentives deal was struck by the previous Bill Haslam administration late last year, and Lee wholeheartedly agreed to it, but details were not known until the release of the budget.