General Motors plans to bring production of its recently announced BrightDrop EV600 electric light commercial vehicle to its CAMI manufacturing plant in Ingersoll, Ontario.
Production plans are subject to ratification of a tentative 2021 agreement reached with Unifor and confirmation of government support, the automaker said. The nearly $800 million investment will support GM’s timing to deliver BrightDrop EV600 in late 2021. The investment will enable GM to convert CAMI into Canada’s first large-scale electric delivery vehicles manufacturing plant.
Work will begin immediately to transform the CAMI plant. This will support jobs and transform work at the plant over the next two years from the Chevrolet Equinox to production of EV600s, serving the growing North American electric delivery solutions market.
BrightDrop is an all-new business within GM offering commercial customers an ecosystem of connected and electrified products and services designed to improve the delivery of goods and services from the first to last mile, GM said. It aims to help B2B customers reduce cost of ownership, improve productivity and safety, and improve their carbon footprints and sustainability efforts. Its initial products include the EP1 electric e-pallet, a software platform for fleet and asset management, and the EV600 light commercial vehicle that will expand the Ultium platform to commercial vehicles.
The new CAMI investments build upon other recent GM investments in Canada, including the recently announced nearly $1.03 billion Oshawa Assembly Pickup investments; an $86 million product and $22 million Renewable Energy Cogeneration project at St. Catharines; a nearly $135 million investment in an after-market parts operation in Oshawa; expansion of GM’s Canadian Technology Center, including investments in the new 55-acre CTC McLaughlin Advanced Technology Track; and GM Canada’s ongoing work in Oshawa to manufacture 10 million face masks for the Government of Canada.
GM Canada is engaged in discussion with the Ontario and federal governments regarding its new investments and looks forward to working closely with Unifor following ratification of the tentative 2021 agreement.
