Cost of Kentucky Zap plant more than doubles to $184 million

After focusing so far on offering up Chinese-made electric three wheelers, Zap has begun the process of building a plant in the U.S. Zap is teaming up with Integrity Manufacturing to create a joint venture called Integrity Automotive that is building a plant in Simpson County, Kentucky. The plant was originally expected to cost $84 million but that price tag has now more than doubled to $175 million. With the state of Kentucky already committing to $48 million in tax incentives, Randall Waldman, CEO of Integrity Automotive is hoping they will supply more to help cover some of the increased cost. The plant is expected to be completed later in 2009 with an initial capacity of 300 vehicles per day. Zap is hoping that the new plant and relationship with an established manufacturer will help blunt some of the criticism of the company's past business practices. Many of the previously-announced projects from Zap have failed to come to fruition and it's not known if the Kentucky plant will be used to build the planned Alias three wheeler.

[Source: GreenTechMedia]