Canadian supplier Magna has broken ground on a new 345,000 square foot production facility that will produce battery enclosures for new General Motors electric vehicles like the 2022 GMC Hummer EV.
The Magna Electric Vehicle Structures production plant in St. Clair, Michigan is the result of a $70 million investment from Magna and will bring more than 300 new jobs to the St. Clair region once up and running at full capacity. The plant will produce “complex battery enclosures,” for GM EVs, including the new Hummer EV.
The new full-size electric vehicle, which will be sold as both a pickup and an SUV, uses GM’s proprietary Ultium battery pack design and rides on the automaker’s new BT1 dedicated EV architecture. Other future GM EVs are also expected to use an Ultium battery and BT1 platform, including the upcoming Chevy electric truck.
Battery enclosures are an important part of an EV’s design, lending to the structural integrity of the chassis and protecting the high-voltage batteries from the elements. Magna says it has the ability to produce battery enclosures from a wide variety of materials, including steel, aluminum and multi-material configurations like lightweight composites.
“This new business with GM marks an important evolution as the company expands its capabilities in all aspects of the vehicle electrification space,” the company said in a press release.
The 2022 GMC Hummer EV will enter production later this year at the GM Factory Zero plant in Hamtramck, Michigan. Magna expects production at the Magna Electric Vehicle Structures plant to get up and running in early 2022.
In addition to the GMC Hummer EV, the Factory Zero plant will also build the new Cruise Origin robotaxi. The fully self-driving vehicle is expected to start rolling off the production line at the plant in late 2022.
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How does one enter production in 2021.... but not have all the necessary hardware available till 2Q 2022? With the scary issues GM
Is having with chip shortages and bad QC at The GM SUV plant in Texas i don’t want to see how bad the quality turns out to be on a $110k+ vehicle.
The Hummer EV battery enclosures will likely be built using pre-production systems at other facilities and at a lower volume till this facility (and GM's battery factory) are up and running early 2022.
Biden can always loan GM the microchip bill gates put in his head.