The first electric delivery van rolled off the line at the newly retooled General Motors CAMI plant to great fanfare Monday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford were both on hand as the Ingersoll facility officially reopened as Canada’s first full-scale electric vehicle manufacturing plant.
Both the federal and provincial government had doled out $259 million each to help the auto giant upgrade its production lines from manufacturing combustion engines to electric vehicles (EVs). The seven month overhaul of the facility cost $2 billion, according to GM. There was a roar of cheers and applause as the first BrightDrop Zevo 600, GM’s EV delivery van, was displayed to those attending Monday’s celebration.
“Today shows the true potential of General Motors EV strategy. It also represents the best of GM – fast, flexible, and first,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “BrightDrop is the fastest product launch in our history. From concept to commercialization in less than two years.”
CAMI expects that by 2025, it will be manufacturing 50,000 Zevo vans annually. FedEx, DHL, Walmart, and Verizon are among the big name businesses that have already signed on to add the BrightDrop Zevo 600 to their fleet of delivery vehicles. DHL Express Canada is the first Canadian company to pen a deal with GM for the EV delivery vans. The vehicles will be added to its fleet by early next year.
“Every BrightDrop Zevo van built here will save our customers up to $12,000 in fuel and operating costs annually compared to traditional diesel vans. That’s a big deal,” said Reuss. “In fact, we estimate over the next ten years the fleet of BrightDrop vans built at CAMI will prevent 22 million tonnes of tailpipe emissions, ten times more than the greenhouse gas emissions from all of GM operations in Canada over the same time frame. That is something to celebrate.”
Premier Doug Ford, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, GM Canada President Marissa West and Gm President Mark Reuss at the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, December 5, 2022. Photo from YouTube.
The federal government has pledged that by 2035 all new vehicles sold in Canada will be electric. The opening of Canada’s first full-scale electric vehicle plant is widely seen as a first step toward achieving that goal.
“When we invested in this GM project we knew we would get results. Now as the first BrightDrop electric vans come off the line we get to see these results,” said Trudeau.
Premier Ford called the rollout of the BrightDrop Zevo 600 game changing for the province.
“These investments in electric vehicles and hybrids and EV batteries will create jobs now and in the future. They’re putting us on the path of being a global manufacturing powerhouse once again,” said Ford. “GM’s commitment to this plant is a massive vote of confidence in our province and our incredible workers. Together with partners like GM we are building an Ontario for today and for tomorrow.”
GM hopes to ramp up production of its electric delivery vans to two shifts by early next year, with hopes of adding a third shift once the market permits.
