A new joint venture between seven of the biggest global automakers — BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Kia and Stellantis — has picked Durham County for a $10 million corporate center that promises to hire 203 positions by the end of the decade.

Launched in July, the California-based company Ionna aims to set up at least 30,000 electric vehicle charging stations across North America. It gained regulatory approval in February and hopes to open its first station later this year.

In Durham, Ionna intends to build a facility to host corporate functions and feature what the N.C. Commerce Department called “a customer experience and research lab” during a meeting Tuesday. According to state officials, Ionna would add more than 200 positions between 2025 and 2029 at a minimum average salary of $128,457.

Economic incentives helped attract Ionna to the Triangle area, the company said, along with the region’s labor pool and quality of life. On Tuesday, the state Commerce Department offered Ionna a job development investment grant worth up to $3,075,000 if it meets its hiring and investment targets. An additional $800,000 in state funding was allocated for workforce training.

Durham County offered the project local incentives worth $170,000.

Ionna isn’t the first EV charging company to target Durham. In February 2022, Finnish company Kempower promised to create more than 300 jobs at a new facility in the Bull City. The company shipped its first charging station from the factory late last year.

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