Start-up delayed

By Charles Sowell  

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 2:20 p.m. (0)

The delay in startup of electric cars in Duncan will not affect the company’s state and local incentives package, but it will push back hiring at the facility, a company spokesman said this week.

If there are no more delays, the plant could be up and running in three to six months.

Curt Westlake, spokesman for CT&T in the company’s Atlanta office, said the delay was caused by the need to complete the distribution network.

“If there are no sales, then there’s no need for production,” he said.

No one has been hired for the plant’s production line. Those hires are expected to be made, with enough time allowed for training, shortly before the plant opens.

Announced in July as a joint venture between CT&T, a Korean automaker specializing in electric cars and 2AM Group of Spartanburg the $21 million investment is to create 370 jobs over the next five years. The companies joined to form CT&T Southeast to run the plant and distribute the electric vehicles.

“All of the incentives for this project are performance based,” said David Britt, head of the Spartanburg County economic development committee. “This is just the kind of thing you encounter with any startup industry.”

Kara Bourie, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Commerce, said she’s confident the company will be able to bring the plant online in the near future.

“A thing like a few months delay isn’t a big deal when you’re talking about the life of a company,” Britt said. “I’m sort of happy to see them taking a conservative approach now. You have to think long-term with a project like this. A few months doesn’t seem like such a long time when you’re talking about 15 to 20 years for the life of a plant like this.”

As outlined earlier this year CT&T is to manufacture e ZONE and c ZONE vehicles at the Duncan plant.

The e ZONE electric is a low speed car that has a 70-mile range on a single charge. It uses lithium polymer batteries to get twice the mileage and lifespan of traditional lead acid batteries. The batteries are also 30 percent smaller and lighter than traditional lead acid.

The c ZONE lines are low speed electric off-road and street legal vehicles.  They are used commercially and are considered ideal for neighborhood transportation in planned communities and resorts.

CT&T Southeast’s first dealership is open, Westlake said. It is located just off Interstate 385 in Fountain Inn. The company has imported vehicles from South Korea to be sold at its dealerships until the Duncan plant is operational.

Those sales are expected to begin soon.

The plant is located in the state Highway 290 Commerce Park in Duncan, company officials said.  With the existing 2AM facility at the park the total production space will be more than 300,000 square feet.

CT&T has U.S. operations in Atlanta and Long Beach, Calif. CT&T Company Ltd. is located in Seoul, Korea, with manufacturing facilities also in China.  2AM Group is an established assembly, logistic, quality and engineering services company, with 10 facilities and satellite operations throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Munich, Germany.

Once the distribution problems are ironed out CT&T expects its e ZONE electric vehicles to sell briskly. They are the only small electric cars to pass the Federal passenger car standards for front and side impacts.

The cars have independent circuit hydraulic disk brakes and four-wheel Macpherson strut independent suspension. Company officials said e ZONE vehicles have high-rigidity aluminum frames that provide best in class safety.

CT&T plans to be in the North American market for a long time and has signed sponsorship contracts with the University of South Carolina and Clemson baseball teams, Westlake said.

“We’re getting dealerships set up all over the region,” he said.