GM to invest $700m in Volt rechargeable electric car
By Richard Kessler for Recharge News
“GM is spending $336m to upgrade the Hamtramck plant; $202m for a new plant in Flint, north of Detroit, that will build 1.4 litre engine-generators; $43m for a plant in Brownstown Township outside Detroit that will manufacture battery packs; $37m for a camshaft and connecting rod plant in Bay City, north of Flint; and $27m for GM’s Tech Center in suburban Warren, a Detroit suburb, location of Volt’s battery laboratory.”
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GM to invest $700m in Volt rechargeable electric car
General Motors will invest $336m in a Detroit-area assembly plant, bringing to $700m total investment in eight Michigan facilities to begin mass production of the rechargeable Chevrolet Volt electric car in late 2010.
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GM is spending $336m to upgrade the Hamtramck plant; $202m for a new plant in Flint, north of Detroit, that will build 1.4 litre engine-generators; $43m for a plant in Brownstown Township outside Detroit that will manufacture battery packs; $37m for a camshaft and connecting rod plant in Bay City, north of Flint; and $27m for GM’s Tech Center in suburban Warren, a Detroit suburb, location of Volt’s battery laboratory.
“We expect the Detroit-Hamtramck plant will be the first facility in the U.S. owned by a major automaker to produce an electric car,” says Jon Lauckner, vice president of global product planning.
Michigan has approved $135.2m in tax incentives for those sites and others. The state has the highest US unemployment rate at 15.2%, largely a result of the depressed automobile industry that has resulted in thousands of layoffs in the past 18 months.
The Volt is an electric car designed to drive up to 40 miles on electricity without using gasoline or producing tailpipe emissions. When its lithium-ion battery is depleted of energy, an engine-generator seamlessly operates to extend the total driving range to about 300 miles before refueling or stopping to recharge the battery.
Richard A. Kessler
Published: Tuesday, December 8 2009
2 Comments
This seems like a big investment for GM. In the long-run, i can see some profitability though. It’s good for the society as a whole too.
I am very pleased with the thought and don’t feel like adding anything in it. It a perfect answer.
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