Electric cars to be built in Upstate

A Korean company said Wednesday it would spend $21 million to begin assembling electric cars in the Upstate.

Gov. Mark Sanford called the announcement a celebration of “the unleashing of the green technology revolution” in the state — one that will produce needed jobs.

“This notion of about 400 jobs in the Upstate is a big deal,” he said. Sanford added that as the Gulf oil spill demonstrates the need for private-sector energy alternatives, this kind of development is “incredibly important.”

Seoul-based CT&T Ltd. will use a subsidiary and Spartanburg-based 2AM Group to make the low-speed electric vehicles at its first North American production line in Duncan in Spartanburg County. It can assemble up to 30,000 of the small cars, but initial plans call for up to 10,000 cars produced with a single shift and 370 workers, said Joseph White, CT&T USA Inc.’s chief operating officer.