Construction to prep Canada's first full-scale electric vehicle manufacturing plant is now underway at General Motors Co.'s CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario.
GM Canada said Friday it is starting to retool and prepare the plant for production of all-electric vans by BrightDrop, GM's new business focused on providing electric delivery vehicle options.
Production of the Zevo 600 electric van will begin at CAMI in the fourth quarter. The Zevo 400, a smaller version of the electric van, will also be built at CAMI beginning in 2023. CAMI previously built the Chevrolet Equinox, which is also built at two GM Mexico plants: Ramos Arizpe Vehicle Assembly and San Luis Potosi.
By September, new BrightDrop production equipment will be installed, GM said. Employees are expected to return in October to train on the new line.
It's expected that CAMI will ramp up to two production shifts in early 2023. The plant will have the ability to get up to three shifts if the market permits.
BrightDrop has more than 25,000 production reservations for its electric delivery vans.
GM is also adding a third shift at its other Canada production facility in Oshawa, Ontario, to increase truck production there.
