General Motors (GM) has announced plans to invest nearly $154 million (£114 million/€135 million) in its Western New York Lockport Components plant. The investment will be used to renovate the facility and purchase and install new machinery and equipment to build electric vehicle (EV) motors.
The facility will be used for the production of the stator module, a key component in an electric motor. Electric motors will be used in a variety of GM’s future Ultium Platform-based electric trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUVs.) Renovations of the facility will begin immediately.
As Lockport Components prepares for electric motor component production, the facility will continue to build a variety of components that support GM’s current truck and SUV production. Lockport Components currently produces radiators, condensers, heater cores, evaporators, HVAC modules, oil coolers and other components used in a variety of GM trucks.
GM currently estimates Lockport Components will add approximately 230 new jobs between 2023 and 2026. Actual staffing plans will be finalised closer to the start of production as the facility transitions to support EV motor component production.
Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of Global Manufacturing and Sustainability, said: “GM’s investment in Lockport Components reaffirms our commitment to manufacturing in Western New York and our confidence in this team.
“They will build a crucial module in our electric motor assembly for our future electric trucks and SUVs. This is an excellent example of how we are bringing our workforce along on the journey to an all-electric future while we scale our EV production capacity and maintain a flow of parts for our current vehicles.”
General Motors is working hard towards its electric future. The US carmaker announced last year that it will increase its investment to $35 billion in autonomous and electric vehicles (EVs) through 2025.
Along with producing cars, GM is putting the infrastructure in place to help with the adoption and transition to electric cars. The company recently announced a partnership with Blink Charging to supply electric vehicle (EV) chargers to General Motors dealerships in North America.
GM also announced it will expand access to electric vehicle (EV) charging with more than 40,000 community-based charging stations. Their dealer community charging program is designed to accelerate the deployment of charging in underserved, rural and urban communities.