> Is it that these were hundreds of the best battery factory professional engineers in SK or just a cultural match?
SK has been building battery factories for a while, naturally, they ended up with an experienced talent pool.
> How is competence built with any offshoring of a new thing?
China has the blueprint: enforce knowledge sharing/knowledge transfer to local entities, and provide adequate direction and government funding.
> I think it’s a stretch to say Americans can’t be trained to make a factory.
Experience =/= capability - Americans certainly can be trained, but who's paying (and waiting) for that? Does it make economic sense to do so for a one-and-done project? LG Chem (and its vendor ecosystem) have been building battery factories for well over a decade now, and will continue to use that competency. What would happen to your hypothetical newly-trained, all-American battery-factory builders once the Savannah project is up and running? Especially under this administration that is set on cutting the knees from under renewables.
SK has been building battery factories for a while, naturally, they ended up with an experienced talent pool.
> How is competence built with any offshoring of a new thing?
China has the blueprint: enforce knowledge sharing/knowledge transfer to local entities, and provide adequate direction and government funding.
> I think it’s a stretch to say Americans can’t be trained to make a factory.
Experience =/= capability - Americans certainly can be trained, but who's paying (and waiting) for that? Does it make economic sense to do so for a one-and-done project? LG Chem (and its vendor ecosystem) have been building battery factories for well over a decade now, and will continue to use that competency. What would happen to your hypothetical newly-trained, all-American battery-factory builders once the Savannah project is up and running? Especially under this administration that is set on cutting the knees from under renewables.