Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — Officials from Youngstown State University and Hon Hai Technology, also known as Foxconn, today will announce intentions for a major partnership to establish a national electric-vehicle workforce training and innovation center.

The event is set for 1 p.m. at the Excellence Training Center at Kohli Hall on the campus.

The center will focus on helping the emerging EV industry build and scale a sustainable workforce around advanced manufacturing, energy storage and other integrated technology solutions, such as artificial intelligence, 5G and cybersecurity.

“Now is the time to break down geographic and institutional silos to provide workforce solutions that accelerate the ability for industry, academia, government and workforce organizations to come together and more quickly deploy resources and strategies to address industry workforce needs,” YSU President Jim Tressel said.

The auto assembly plant in Lordstown is owned by Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics and technology giant. It could play a large role in the company’s continued expansion into manufacturing electric vehicles.

Foxconn acquired the roughly 6.2 million-square-foot auto-making factory, the former General Motors small car plant, from Lordstown Motors Corp. in May for $230 million. Since, Foxconn — the company that assembles Apple’s iPhone and other global brand consumer electronics — has put in a huge effort to enhance the plant’s manufacturing capabilities.

It is Foxconn’s only U.S.-based auto plant.

The latest development is the announcement that Foxconn and INDIEV Inc. of Los Angeles have a memorandum of understanding that expresses joint interest in finalizing a contract manufacturing agreement that would have Foxconn mass produce INDIEV’s INDI One, touted for its connectivity and personal computing ability.

The memorandum also contains a binding agreement to produce the prototypes in Lordstown, plus calls for Foxconn to produce the batteries for the electric vehicle.

Foxconn also has agreements in place to manufacture Lordstown Motors’s flagship, the all-electric Endurance pickup truck, which launched commercial production in September, and Monarch Tractor’s battery-powered driverless tractor, the MK-V Series tractor.

Another vehicle that could be made at the factory is Fisker Inc.’s PEAR, a sporty crossover and the electric-vehicle maker’s second vehicle. There is not, however, an agreement in place for Foxconn to manufacture the vehicle. Details still are being worked out.

Further, published reports by Car and Driver magazine and Fox Business suggest the Model B hatchback, which would be made by Foxconn affiliate Foxtron, would be produced in Lordstown starting in 2024.

Foxtron is a partnership between Foxconn and Yulon Motor Co., the largest automaker in Taiwan that has been a manufacturer for Nissan and, in 2009, started its own brand, Luxgen.

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