EV Manufacturing Picks Up Following Recent Auto Plant Closures.
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The global automotive market is undergoing major changes amid new technologies that impact everything from products and features offered to the factories that produce them. Regulation matters are also driving industry change and operational direction for the world’s prominent carmakers.
In just the last few years, nine countries, including China, France, and the UK, as well as various U.S. states and cities, have announced eventual bans on internal combustion engines — further boosting the overall movement to hybrid and electric vehicles (EV).
Global automakers are responding to the changing market by following suit. An early 2019 analysis by Reuters of 29 global automakers found that they are investing at least $300 billion in electric vehicle technology over the next 10 years, with more than 45% of it earmarked for China.
Analysis by Reuters found that Volkswagen (including Audi/Porsche) is leading the way in such investment, at $91 billion set for EV investment between $57 billion on battery procurement and $34 billion on e-mobility initiatives. Daimler is second with $42 billion, followed by Hyundai/Kia ($20 billion), Changan ($15 billion) and Toyota ($13.5 billion) in the top five. The first U.S.-based company, Ford, is sixth on the list with $11 billion planned for EV investment, while other U.S.-tied companies Fiat Chrysler ($10 billion), Tesla ($10 billion) and General Motors ($8 billion) check-in at numbers 10 and 11, respectively.
As examples of some of the latest news in the EV manufacturing space:
- Volkswagen announced this week that is about to break ground on an $800 million plant expansion in Chattanooga, Tennessee for EV production, with the investment to add 1,000 jobs to VW’s existing footprint there.
- Electric truck startup Workhorse backed the purchase of a shuttered massive General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio by Lordstown Motors Corporation. Once more investment is secured, the plant will employ 400 production workers at the outset to produce a new electric pickup truck marketed to commercial customers such as utilities and municipalities.
- At the end of October, Ford announced it had renegotiated its labor union contract to make the company’s electric F-150 and battery packs in Dearborn, Michigan. Two weeks earlier, Ford announced what it hails as North America’s largest electric vehicle charging network that includes 12,000 charging stations with more than 35,000 plugs across the U.S. and parts of Canada.
- Germany’s government this week hailed Tesla’s decision to build its first European factory in the country, just days after the government said it would boost subsidies for buyers of electric cars.
Source : thomasnet
