Battery boom in Canada's motor city sparks dreams of auto sector rebirth

financialpost.com:

Rob Kennedy tried something different after a 40-year career in Ontario’s auto sector: he headed back to the classroom.

All summer long, the 59-year-old spent evenings and weekends working towards a 375-hour battery manufacturing certificate at St. Clair College in Windsor, burying himself in chemistry, math and other topics in hopes of landing a position at the country’s first battery cell manufacturing plant.

“It’s not easy for a guy who hasn’t been in school for 42 years to go to math and start algebra,” he said. “But I’m telling you, it’s exciting.”

Less than two years after workers first broke ground onthe sprawling NextStar Energy battery plant in Windsor, the company said it is close to firing up the first assembly lines and rolling electric vehicle batteries off the factory floor.

Located on the edge of the city, where houses and heavy industry give way to rolling farmland, the project is being hailed by workers such as Kennedy as well as politicians at every level of government as the antidote to whatever ails this country’s auto sector, which has faced a bevy of challenges, from plant relocations to cheaper labour jurisdictions to a global shortage of semiconductors that shut down production lines.

“Electrification, we know, is going to be the future,” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said.

The estimated $5-billion project has come with heavy government support, including financial contributions from the federal and provincial governments that could add up to $18.6 billion over the life of the project. It’s the single largest line item in a string of investments that the federal and provincial governments have announced in the country’s emerging EV battery supply chain.

That also puts it under close scrutiny,