FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Kentucky is already home to bourbon and thoroughbred
horse racing, now it’s aiming for electric cars too.
Gov. Steve Beshear said that the state has authorized a tax incentive
plan to bring an electric car plant to southern Kentucky. California-based
Zero Air Pollution, or ZAP, is scheduled to begin production next
year.
“They’ll have to build this facility, they’ll have
to start hiring the people and building the cars and then those incentives
kick in,” Beshear said after taking a three-wheel model for
a test drive around the state Capitol.
Beshear signed an executive order earlier allowing low-speed three-
and four-wheel electric cars to travel Kentucky’s roads with
speed limits of 45 mph or less. Officials at the electric car manufacturer
had said they would not consider locating the plant in Kentucky if
the state did not allow the cars to travel its roads.
Officials said the plant was expected to eventually bring up to 4,000
new jobs within the next four years to the rural town of Franklin,
about 135 miles southwest of Louisville. The planned 1 million square-foot
plant is slated to be built on 225 acres in an industrial park.
State officials have authorized $48 million in tax credits, Beshear
said.
Meanwhile, local city and Simpson County officials have offered about
$80 million in investment revenue bonds as incentives for the plant,
said Dennis Griffin, director of the Franklin-Simpson Industrial Authority.
Randall Waldman, CEO of Integrity Automotive, said his company’s
“venture partnership” with ZAP was aimed at providing
electric cars to many people not just the rich. Waldman said his company’s
cars are priced from $10,000 to about $63,000.
The cars can travel up to 40 mph. Waldman said the company had sold
more than 100,000 vehicles.
“We want to be the electric car company for the people,”
Waldman said.
Waldman claimed his company’s vehicles could travel for up to
400 miles on a single four-hour charge. The company has also been
in talks to set up recharging stations throughout the area, Waldman
said.
“This represents an investment not only in Kentucky’s
economy but also in the future of this country, Beshear said.
