Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s administration, eager to cement Michigan’s position in the EV revolution, has thrown money at companies like Ford, GM, and various startups, hoping to secure a slice of what Democrats consider will be a robust future EV auto market.

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The results? To date, these investments have spawned roughly 200 jobs according to a recent report from Bridge Michigan – not the 12,000 that the governor and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) have promised. A modest return on a billion-dollar bet.

Many of the promised jobs remain a mirage on the distant horizon, delayed indefinitely or scaled back like a Hollywood blockbuster that fizzles at the box office. Take Our Next Energy, for instance, once touted to bring over 2,000 jobs to Wayne County; instead, it has a paltry 50 workers and a trail of broken promises.

Michigan’s rush into the EV arena has been characterized by haste and a disregard for economic prudence. The state’s economic development corporation (MEDC) with the approval of the political appointees on the Michigan Strategic Fund board (and using SOAR funding), have spearheaded these efforts, dishing out millions in loans and infrastructure improvements without ensuring commensurate job creation. This includes hefty sums for land purchases and utility hookups, all done in the hope that “if you build it, they will come.”

SOAR is currently under fire by legislators who are opposed to House Democrats’ plans to earmark an additional $250 million for a “Make it in Michigan Fund” to subsidize corporate welfare for housing and transportation in the state.

However, critics of all of the taxpayer-funded. handouts, and there are many, argue that Michigan’s approach to be an EV giant amounts to betting big on a technology still finding its feet. With EV sales sputtering and automakers bleeding money on each unit sold, the state’s enthusiasm seems misplaced.

Companies like GM, recipient of hundreds of millions in incentives, have yet to hit their job creation targets. Instead of Whitmer’s promised 4,000 GM jobs, there are 120.

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Even Ford, amidst grand plans for billion-dollar battery campuses, has had to hit pause and rethink its strategy, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for unfinished projects and unrealized dreams.

Amidst all this, MEDC’s CEO Quentin Messer Jr. continues to defend the state’s gamble, arguing that flexibility was necessary to compete in a cutthroat market. Yet, as projects languish and job numbers falter, questions mount about whether Michigan’s taxpayers are being taken for a ride – albeit an electric one.