ANALYSIS: Electric-vehicle batteries may power bright future for area workers
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London and St. Thomas are getting international attention as a future home for an electric vehicle battery assembly plant, says the president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association.
Southwestern Ontario has been pushed into the spotlight for electric vehicle (EV) investment, following a Free Press report that Cami Assembly in Ingersoll has begun work on its own battery production plant on site, said Flavio Volpe, president of the APMA, which represents the industry nationwide.
“That gets you on the radar for more investment. It’s confirmation the area has the workforce, with the right skills for the modern automobile,” Volpe said. “The Cami news doesn’t surprise me. Every time I talk with battery suppliers, London-St. Thomas is on the short list” for investment for a future electric vehicle battery plant.
“Let’s just say St. Thomas has been translated into several languages.”
In June, St. Thomas announced it assembled an 800-acre (320 ha) site in the city’s northeast to woo manufacturing. The land was pitched to the Ontario government and its Ministry of Economic Development as a possible site for a new automotive EV battery plant, Sean Dyke, chief executive of the St. Thomas Economic Development Corp., said at the time.
Cami is now making two versions of the BrightDrop fully electric cargo delivery van and has started building a 400,000-sq.-ft. addition that will see batteries assembled on site for its vans, sources told The Free Press last week.
GM Canada has received orders for the BrightDrop from Hertz, Walmart, FedEx, Verizon and Merchants Fleet, a fleet management company in the U.S., as well as DHL Canada.
Kapil Lakhotia, chief executive of the London Economic Development Corp., confirmed the London-St. Thomas area is getting attention from manufacturers and the Cami investment shows we’re a player in the EV sector. One EV battery plant announced for Windsor will employ 2,500 when it opens in 2024.
“As we work with EV suppliers we’re confident more investment will come to this region,” Lakhotia said. “If a facility is being purpose-built for Cami, that’s wonderful. Winning a major investment bodes well for our region. It shows confidence to other (automakers) that we have the labour and capacity and business climate for EVs.”
The LEDC is now “working with several prospects” for area EV investment, he added. “As we work with EV suppliers, I think you will find more investment will come to this region.”
EV investment requires land, workforce, a stable electrical supply and access to raw material as well as an automotive supply chain, all available in the region, Lakhotia said.
In December, Volkswagen and Francois-Philippe Champagne, federal minister of innovation, science and industry, announced the German automaker was to explore sites in Canada to build the company’s first battery factory in North America to power electric vehicles (EV).
“Volkswagen is being very public about its intentions. They’re in the advanced stages of site selection,” said Brendan Sweeney, managing director of the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing, an industry advocacy group.
Last week a delegation from Japan also met with federal government officials to discuss possible EV investment here.
Windsor and Kingston areas have both had recent EV investment, narrowing the prospects for future investments, added Sweeney. “Automakers are saying we need more capacity, more capability and we’re putting it in Canada. We’re off to a good start.”
As for the St. Thomas site, it’s bound by Highbury Avenue South, Edgeware Line, Yarmouth Centre Road and Ron McNeil Line. There is about 120 hectares, south of Edgeware Line.
The battery plant being built at the Cami Assembly plant may also diversify the supplier base in the region, meaning more suppliers may have to locate here or grow production to meet the battery demands, Volpe said. Magna, Martinrea and Linamar are able to provide “major components” for battery assembly and now supply GM, meaning this new investment may see them expand their production, he added.
“They’re major GM suppliers,” Volpe said. “It’s certainly well within the realm of possibility we could see some expansion. After 2026-27, there’s a reasonable possibility battery assembly cells are made north of the border.”
One of the drivers for future EV investment in Canada is lithium extraction. The metal is critical in battery production and it is being mined in Quebec, Volpe said.
GM Canada officials on Friday declined comment on what work will be done at its Cami expansion but confirmed it will be related to BrightDrop production.
Cami will assemble the BrightDrop Zevo 600, a large cargo van, and a smaller version, the EV410. Both will travel about 400 kilometres on a charge. Sources close to Cami suggested the plant will see various battery parts received at the new plant and assembled on-site for final production, to be installed in the BrightDrop.
GM now has a battery plant in Ohio and plans to build at least three more. The automaker plans to shift all light-duty vehicle production to fully electric by 2035.
There are about 300 workers employed now at Cami as production begins, but by February all 1,500 pre-existing employees should be back to work, rotating shifts as they learn the new technology at what is essentially an all-new plant.
In December at the official launch of the BrightDrop, GM announced it already has about two years of orders on the books.
GM has invested more than $1 billion to retool the Cami plant for EV production and another $1 billion retooling one of its Oshawa plants. The federal and provincial governments combined to contribute a total of more than $500 million for the two plants.
In March Sellantis, formerly Chrysler, announced it will invest $5 billion in building a new EV battery plant in Windsor with a Korean partner. That plant will employ about 2,500, will be 4.5 million sq. ft. and is expected to open in 2024.
In July, a Belgian company, Umicore, announced it will open an automotive EV battery supply plant in the Kingston.
ndebono@postmedia.com
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