On Friday, electric vehicle company Lion Electric announced it selected Illinois as the location for its new US manufacturing plant. Moreover, the company aims to invest at least $70 million and create about 750 jobs by 2024.
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Lion Electric on building new manufacturing facility in Illinois
Canadian electric vehicle company Lion Electric announced Friday that it selected Illinois as the location for its new US manufacturing plant. Accordingly, the company will invest at least $70 million and create about 750 jobs over the next three weeks.
Therefore, Lion Electric said it would build the 900,000 square foot facility near Chicago. Thus, the company aims to produce up to 20,000 electric buses and medium- and heavy-duty trucks per year.
In fact, the company said it expected the facility to come online in the second half of 2022. Thus, Lion Chief Executive Officer Marc Bedard said in an interview that while the Illinois factory would focus on vehicle manufacturing initially, the company might later add battery production.
Indeed, the Company is currently building a battery production facility in Canada.
Reception
In this regard, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said: “Lion’s historic investment to bring its largest production facility to Illinois represents not only a win for our communities, but a strong step forward in our work to expand clean energy alternatives and the jobs they bring to our communities.”
Thus, “the new Joliet facility will put Illinois at the forefront of a national movement to transition to zero-emission vehicle use. Hence, advancing our own goals of putting one million of these cars on the road by 2030. In Illinois, we know that a clean energy economy is about more than just vehicles. For instance, it’s about healthier communities and jobs for those who live there. Finally, we are excited to welcome Lion to the Land of Lincoln and look forward to their future success here.”
Moreover, Bedard said Lion Electric is expanding in the US. Mainly because the country is presenting a growing demand among school districts and companies to switch to electric transportation.
For instance, nearly 400 of the company’s electric school buses are on the road. Furthermore, Amazon recently announced it would buy up to 2,500 trucks from Lion by 2025.
