{"id":191,"date":"2026-05-22T18:17:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=191"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:17:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T18:17:50","slug":"north-carolina-slams-brakes-on-ev-megafactory-deal-after-years-of-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=191","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina slams brakes on EV megafactory deal after years of delay"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It sounded too good to be true, and it was.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Vietnamese carmarker VinFast, billing itself as a major global player in electric vehicles, announced it would build a megafactory to produce EVs and batteries on a sprawling site in Chatham County, bringing $4 billion in investment and 7,500 jobs to the largely rural area.<\/p>\n

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The state of North Carolina rushed to secure the deal, promising the \u201ctransformative project\u201d a rich economic development package, including half a billion dollars in state job incentives as well as around $400 million in local incentives and property tax breaks, plus new roads, free land and training programs.<\/p>\n

Four years later, the state is suing to claw back the land and around $80 million it already gave VinFast. State Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Thursday his office has filed suit in Wake County Superior Court against the company on behalf of the North Carolina Department of Commerce.<\/p>\n

Jackson said that the company breached its contracts with the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cVinFast agreed to build a factory and create jobs for North Carolinians \u2014 it didn\u2019t do either,\u201d Jackson said in a statement. \u201cWhen North Carolina makes a deal, we build in protection for taxpayers. VinFast broke the deal, so we\u2019re using that protection to find a project for this site that will create jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

VinFast officials did not immediately respond to NC Newsline\u2019s request for comment. The lawsuit comes on the same day Reuters reported VinFast is planning to exit manufacturing and is selling its two main factories in Vietnam.<\/p>\n

The North Carolina factory was supposed to be under construction by 2024 and operational by 2026. But the Moncure site, according to the filing, has been largely abandoned since the end of 2024. The company hasn\u2019t had a construction contract since the end of that year, and the building and environmental permits VinFast had obtained expired and were not renewed.<\/p>\n

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Monday numbers: the environmental impacts of the VinFast electric car factory in Chatham County<\/p>\n

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