LORDSTOWN, Ohio – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing documents that could lead to a final permit enabling Foxconn EV System LLC to install a new e-coating line at its Lordstown facility.
On June 18, the Ohio EPA forwarded a Title V permit to the U.S. EPA for consideration. “If the U.S. EPA does not object to this proposed permit, the permit will be processed for issuance as a final action,” the OEPA advised in a cover letter.
Foxconn was informed May 28 that the OEPA had sent its permit for final review.
The permit calls for significant modification of a draft permit created two years ago calling for the installation of machinery related to a new painting process at the plant, including an e-coating line, an e-coating dip tank and bake oven, final repair, a primer surfacer and adhesives and sealers, according to documents filed with the OEPA.
According to OEPA documents, the new permit would incorporate “permit modifications of existing emissions units associated with the production of electric vehicles.” The Foxconn plant currently performs contract manufacturing, and the facility is described as an electric automobile stamping, assembly and finishing operation.
Should the U.S. EPA approve, the final permit would be issued 45 days after June 18, or Aug. 2.
An earlier OEPA filing submitted in 2023 stated that Foxconn planned to increase its proposed manufacturing capacity from 75,000 vehicles per year to 350,000 vehicles.
This week, Foxconn’s Board of Directors approved equipment purchases worth nearly $121.3 million. The company did not report the nature of the equipment or where it was to be used. In April, a Taiwanese news outlet reported that Foxconn intended to invest $26 million in the Lordstown plant.
Recently, Foxconn announced a contract manufacturing partnership with Mitsubishi Motors and has said it would enter an agreement with another unnamed Japanese automaker soon.
GM closed its Lordstown facility in 2019. Lordstown Motors Corp., an EV truck startup, purchased the plant the same year. That company sold the plant in 2022 to Foxconn, which was contracted to manufacture Lordstown Motors Co.’s Endurance EV pickup. Just a handful of these vehicles were produced.
Lordstown Motors filed bankruptcy in 2024, and a lawsuit it filed against Foxconn for breach of contract is still pending.