General Motors announced announced a nearly $154 million investment in its Western New York Lockport Components plant to handle electric motor components production.
Specifically, the plant will produce the electric motor stator module for Ultium platform-based electric truck and SUV products.
The stator is one of the two main parts of an electric motor - the one that does not move. It contains winding (usually a three-phase), powered from an inverter. The other part is the rotor (Ultium rotors are equipped with permanent magnets).
First, a Lockport Components' facility has to be renovated, which will begin "immediately." Then, the company will install new machinery and equipment.
General Motors estimates that the addition of electric motor components production will result in about 230 new jobs at the site (between 2023 and 2026).
"As Lockport Components prepares for electric motor component production, the facility will continue to build a variety of components that support GM's current truck and SUV production. Lockport Components currently produces radiators, condensers, heater cores, evaporators, HVAC modules, oil coolers and other components used in a variety of GM trucks."
It's another EV-related investment announced by the company, which takes production in-house in the U.S. In December, we heard also about the drive unit castings in Bedford Casting Operations in Indiana and rare earth permanent magnet deals.
Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of Global Manufacturing and Sustainability said:
“GM’s investment in Lockport Components reaffirms our commitment to manufacturing in Western New York and our confidence in this team. They will build a crucial module in our electric motor assembly for our future electric trucks and SUVs. This is an excellent example of how we are bringing our workforce along on the journey to an all-electric future while we scale our EV production capacity and maintain a flow of parts for our current vehicles."