This is the final story of a five-part series about Virginia’s transition to electric vehicles that examines the government’s role in the process, the private industry’s status, the development of charging infrastructure in the state, EVs’ impact on the electric grid, and how the commonwealth’s workforce may be influenced by the growing industry. 

As the demand for electrification grows, companies and specialists in Virginia are helping to develop the workforce necessary to build and maintain electric vehicles, connect consumers to electric transportation, and uncover resources to power low-emission vehicles.

However, to attract and retain employees and build, sell, and maintain electric and low-emission vehicles, leaders in the respective industries said the commonwealth needs to provide incentives and support efforts to continue building an efficient charging infrastructure.

Leaders in the trade industry said one of the biggest misperceptions is that people can’t be successful unless they go to college. Experts said it’s one of the driving forces behind the shortages of electricians, mechanics and technicians. Trade workers are needed in the electric vehicle industry, too.

Don Hall, president and CEO of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, said Virginia can help by continuing its commitment to career and technical education (CTE) training as well as working with the federal government to develop an accessible and convenient charging infrastructure and create ways to invest and incentivize EV purchases. 

“There are many things the state can do, but both parties have been lacking in that arena,” said Hall. “Yet one party over the other says, ‘this is where we need to be’ [and] ‘we need to be selling more of them.’ Okay, I agree, but help us.”

It’s not clear how state efforts on workforce development are focused on electric vehicles. 

When asked why Gov. Glenn Youngkin nixed a proposed battery manufacturing plant slated for Virginia’s Southside, press secretary Martinez said the governor “decided not to finance technology affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party using Virginia taxpayer money,” and pointed to other clean energy jobs the state is pursuing.

Virginia was named the top state to do business in 2024 by CNBC. But the governor admitted that the commonwealth still has work to do in the area of workforce development, after CNBC ranked the state ninth on that measure, largely because of the shortage of educators moving to the commonwealth.

Youngkin told CNBC that the workforce grew by 240,000 since he took office in 2022, but that growth hasn’t included electric vehicle makers at a rate other Southeastern states are experiencing. 

Jobs: Building electric vehicles

Virginia businesses and higher education institutions are becoming involved with testing and developing semiconductor chips and building electric vehicles.

Earlier this year, Virginia settled on an incentive package with manufacturers to develop batteries and semiconductor chips used to support vehicles, after the country experienced a shortage in chip manufacturing. Micron, one of those manufacturers, designs the advanced fabrication for many of its chips in Virginia.

Delbert Parks, vice president and site executive at Micron Technology, said the chips are the backbone of the EVs. The chips also drive advancements in power electronics and electrification efforts.

He also said developing a “robust and diverse talent pipeline” is essential for driving innovation in the semiconductor industry and supporting EV trends; some of that talent could come from . community colleges and universities. Students and university researchers can design and manufacture cutting-edge solutions, meet growing production demands, improve energy efficiency and maintain global competitiveness in the semiconductor industry and the EV revolution. 

Micron has partnered with several Virginia colleges including Virginia Tech and Norfolk State University to grow the workforce and provide experiential learning opportunities.

“The semiconductor industry is facing a global talent gap requiring industry, academic and government partnership to ensure we create pathways for students, K-PhD, to enter into our industry,” Parks said.

With the help of a grant from the National Science Foundation, the Bradley Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Virginia Tech has been working to advance semiconductor research and education. 

The department also hosts workshops and summer camps to encourage high school students to pursue careers in semiconductor-related fields, and has been putting more emphasis on offering semiconductor chip courses in light of the nation’s shortage of chips.

Volvo Trucks North America is one of the vehicle manufacturers in Virginia promoting the sale of heavy electric trucks, including tractor trailers.

Calling itself the largest manufacturing employer in Southwest, Virginia, the company employs about 36,000 people at its plant in the New River Valley and says its been committed “from the beginning” to building an educated workforce for those selling and working on the trucks. 

“During the dealer certification process, all employees receive safety and basic EV training and a minimum of two technicians per location must be certified,” said Bobby Compton, product marketing manager at Volvo Trucks North America. “Traditionally, these technicians have experience working on traditional (internal combustion engine) powertrains and are adding the skill set for zero-emissions-vehicles.”  

The company has benefited from the Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which equates to a $40,000 tax credit for buying an electric battery truck. 

The IRA, President Joe Biden’s landmark law regarded as the largest investment in climate policy in the country’s history, has offered tax credits to incentivize the creation of electric manufacturing facilities throughout the country. The Southeast has taken advantage of those offerings, giving the region the name “battery belt.”

The policy has been using funding from the IRA and 48C tax credits to spur EV component development. This is intended to create domestic manufacturing and make EV purchase tax rebates, which require components to be made in the U.S.A., more accessible.

But Virginia has not been part of that movement, although it has come close. 

The state almost became home to a battery plant in Danville, but the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in January 2023 Youngkin pulled the plug because of a concern over connections to China.

“His concerns were validated when Ford scaled back its Michigan battery plant plans, resulting in fewer jobs than anticipated, and the Defense Authorization Act banned the Pentagon from purchasing batteries based on (Chinese-based Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited technology),” Martinez said.

Then, in Dec. 2023, Microporous, a Tennessee-based company that manufactures lead-acid battery separators, was the recipient of a $100 million grant from the federal government through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to potentially invest over $1 billion and create 282 jobs to build a lithium-ion battery plant in Virginia’s Pittsylvania County. But no final decision has been made and the company is considering building the plant in other states.

Brad Reed, vice president of corporate development at Microporous, said the U.S. Department of Energy and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership are working to finalize a grant agreement and incentives package before year’s end.  Among the other states, Virginia was the “best for support offered in the area of workforce recruitment and development,” Reed said, but offered lower financial services compared to North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Ohio.

“No final decisions or public announcements will be made until these are finalized and approved,” Reed said.

And in April, Applied Materials, the second company alongside Micron to receive a state incentive package, received $100 million in federal funding to open a battery plant in Lynchburg. The public saw this move as a way for Virginia to enter the battery belt industry. But in August, news broke that the company had scrapped its plans without a clear answer as to why.

When asked what other EV component manufacturing plants the state was pursuing, Martinez, with the governor’s office, said “the administration is actively working on several economic development opportunities,” and pointed to successful 48C tax credit awardings, used to spur domestic clean energy development, luring in other engineering-related manufacturing operations. 

Those included a $681 million investment from GreenLink LS in Chesapeake to make a submarine transmission cable for offshore wind projects, and an over $400 million investment by Topsoe, a carbon emission reduction company, in Chesterfield County. Those investments received $235 million in the 48C tax credits, “the third most of any state in the nation,” Martinez said.

“The administration has and will continue to leverage available federal dollars to unleash economic growth in Virginia,” Martinez said.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Atlas Public Policy found at the end of last year that Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, had announced the addition of 65,242 manufacturing jobs and $60 billion in investment by building out the battery belt.

Noting that announcements of the jobs may not always come to fruition, the report stated, “One factor in the growth of EV jobs in the Southeast is the significant economic incentive packages offered by state and local governments.”

While EVs require less maintenance, Matt Shepanek, vice president for credential testing programs with the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), said it’s a “misconception” that there won’t be any jobs available for technicians in the EV industry.

“With EVs, you don’t have some of the maintenance items, like there’s no oil and power steering fluid and things like that, but there’s still plenty of things that technicians need to do, as far as diagnostics and just overall vehicle care.” Shepnaek said. 

Two years ago, ASE created a free EV safety standards document, which the institute and members in the vehicle industry developed. The institute also started providing testing programs to help technicians and salespeople become certified to work and provide information to consumers about electric vehicles.

Shepanek said well over 5,000 people have participated in both testing programs.

For years, car manufacturers have also trained technicians to work on their vehicles at service stations and shops and taught salespeople to understand vehicle details important to consumers.

Dan Banister, chair of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association and owner of Banister Automotive, said car manufacturers such as Nissan and Ford have provided extensive training for his technicians at five dealerships, four of which are in Virginia and the other in Maryland. 

In the age of electrification, Banister said the role of technicians has changed, with some experts primarily using tools such as wrenches and now computers. He credits secondary schools and community colleges, including those in Chesapeake, for creating opportunities for students and the automotive industry.

“We need people out there willing to get their certifications (and) to help with all the skills we’re lacking right now,” Banister said.

Banister said it’s important to have certified employees available to meet the demands of all their customers including those with EVs. On average, he said technicians work on four to five EVs a month with warranty work or tire replacements.  

Jobs: Connecting to power

There is a real need for electricians trained to install chargers and charging stations around the commonwealth, with electric vehicle owners and future consumers increasingly searching for access. 

Charles Skelly, business manager with IBEW Local 666, which represents and trains electricians, said the organization is helping new and experienced electricians prepare for the wave of charger installations. Those installations require electricians to be familiar with electrical load calculations and code requirements.

“With the manufacturing jobs that are coming countrywide from the IRA and other laws that have come out recently … there’s just an extreme demand for electricians right now,” Skelly said. Class sizes have increased from 20 to 25 students per class in the last few years. The number of classes  per semester has increased from two to three this fall, with 75 new apprentices starting. The program has 300 apprentices total. 

The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program, the primary program for electricians to complete to install chargers, requires applicants to have 8,000 documented hours of fieldwork. 

“We’re neck deep in making sure we’re prepared for the work,” Skelly said, adding that their training can vary from residential to commercial and industrial levels. 

Jobs: Uncovering resources

The International Energy Agency found that 1.46 carbon dioxide equivalents, the same amount produced by 164 gallons of gasoline, are emitted when mining for lithium carbonate, a component of lithium-ion batteries that power a majority of electric vehicles. 

While there are no major mining operations in the commonwealth, mineral mining is one practice in Virginia that could yield some success in collecting non-fuel minerals. However, there are environmental concerns about digging for resources, and processing minerals can add more emissions.

Still, the IEA found that making an electric vehicle emits less climate-changing emissions than gas-power internal combustion engine cars.

“Total lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of EVs are around half those of internal combustion engine cars on average, with the potential for a further 25% reduction with low-carbon electricity,” the IEA said.

Trip Pollard, with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said that’s the evidence to support electric vehicles instead of ones that guzzle gas.

“Overall, when you look at the environmental toll, you know the entire process of a gas-powered vehicle and an electric vehicle,” Pollard said. “Hands down, you’re better off with electric vehicles, which is why we support that transition.”

The U.S. has a ban on conflict minerals, which come from countries known to have human rights violations. Cobalt, a mineral explored as a more efficient power source for batteries, can come from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  

In Virginia, Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, introduced a bill this past session to prevent public bodies, including state and local governments, from procuring an electric vehicle unless the manufacturer swears child labor wasn’t involved in the process. 

At an August meeting when discussing his bill, Stanley said finding “clean energy sources … is a policy decision that the commonwealth has made and rightly so.”

However, Stanley continued, “I still believe that we can make a general inquiry and determine what nation states, what countries are mining this cobalt rationally, reasonably and without harm to their children or to their citizenry.”

Scapegoating electric vehicles in that pursuit isn’t fair, Pollard said.

“If we’re really concerned about this issue, which is a serious issue, it should apply to all products, don’t single out EVs,” Pollard said. “I think there are concerns that need to be addressed, and, absolutely, (the SELC is) involved in a couple of projects that are mining projects in the south. They’re pushing for more steps to be taken to minimize any adverse environmental impacts.”

Virginia has nearly all of the 50 critical minerals in the state in trace elements, including Cobalt, which has a “moderate potential” for economic development, and lithium, which has an “unknown potential.”

“Sixteen of the elements have high potential for development,” said Tarah Kesteron, a spokeswoman for Virginia Energy. “These include the 14 rare earth elements (REEs), titanium, and zirconium.”

One company that mines for titanium and zirconium is Atlantic Strategic Metals. In a statement on the reactivation of the mine in Dinwiddie and Sussex counties, Christopher Wyatt, the CEO said that Virginia had “a knowledgeable and talented workforce.”

More broadly, Virginia is exploring ways to procure rare earth elements from waste coal, as well as innovative ways to find critical minerals in the earth or mined coal, through an initiative with Virginia Tech called Evolve Central Appalachia, or CAPP.

The work around minerals is part of the transition that the Natural Resources Defense Council said can be more affordable than spending  $1,117 a year to fuel a gas-powered vehicle, compared to $485 a year to fuel an electric one, the group found, citing a University of Michigan study. The cost saving also comes with benefits for humans and the planet they call home.

“At 20 pounds of co2 for every gallon that’s burned, this is a phenomenal number of carbon dioxide molecules that are released in gasoline,” said Harned. “I think that the social cost of carbon, the impacts around people’s lives, the refugee movements, the economic harms from the additional storms, the heat events and the loss of life, that will over time reduce our consumption.”