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Automakers advance EV plans, add ‘green’ jobs
Ypsilanti, Mich. — Ford Motor Company has announced it is investing $135 million to design and manufacture key components for the company’s next-generation hybrid-electric vehicles as part of its strategy to build a center of excellence in Michigan. The automaker also signed a deal with Coulomb Technologies to provide free charging stations to some of its first electric vehicle owners. Meanwhile, Nissan broke ground on a new production site for the Nissan LEAF.
Ford engineers in Dearborn will design the battery packs while engineers in Livonia will design electric-drive transaxles for the next-generation hybrids, based on Ford’s global C- and CD-car platforms, which go into production in North America in 2012.
Ford’s Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., will assemble the battery packs beginning in 2012, moving work to Michigan that is currently performed in Mexico by a supplier, said Ford. In addition, Ford’s Van Dyke Transmission Plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., will build the electric drive transaxles — the HF35 — beginning in 2012 from a supplier facility in Japan.
Ford is adding a combined 170 jobs at the Rawsonville and Van Dyke facilities.
Ford said its center of excellence for vehicle electrification in Michigan now includes the design and manufacture of electrified key components as well as total vehicle manufacturing for hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles. The automaker plans to add more than 50 engineers to work on electrification as it brings these technologies in-house.
To support battery pack assembly at the Rawsonville Plant, Ford will invest approximately $10 million in capital equipment and add about 40 jobs. Ford’s investment also supports the necessary engineering and launch costs for the advanced battery systems, according to the automaker.
Part of the $125 million investment to launch the new HF35 transaxle includes a $62.7 million grant received from the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help create green technology jobs in the U.S. The total investment provides for manufacturing capital equipment, launch and engineering costs and supplier tooling upgrades.
Ford plans to launch five new full electric or hybrid vehicles in the compact, midsize and light commercial segments for the North American market by 2012 and European markets by 2013.
This lineup includes:
–The Transit Connect Electric light commercial vehicle in North America later this year and in Europe in 2011
–The Focus Electric in North America in 2011 and in Europe in 2012
–A Lincoln MKZ hybrid, available this fall in North America
–A next-generation hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle based on Ford’s global C-car platform in North America in 2012
–A C-MAX hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric model for Europe in 2013
Ford also announced it will partner with Coulomb Technologies to provide nearly 5,000 free in-home charging stations for some of the automaker’s first electric vehicle customers.
Under the Ford Blue Oval ChargePoint Program, residents in nine designated markets could receive a free ChargePoint Networked Charging Station with the purchase of a Ford Transit Connect electric vehicle. The nine markets designated by Coulomb Technologies include Austin, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Sacramento, the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, Redmond, Wash., and Washington D.C. The installation of ChargePoint charging stations will begin immediately.
The Ford ChargePoint Program is part of Coulomb Technologies’ $37 million ChargePoint America charging station infrastructure project funded by a $15 million grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Transportation Electrification Initiative administered by the DOE.
Also moving ahead with its electric-vehicle production plans, Nissan broke ground on its manufacturing site in Smyrna, Tenn., which will produce the lithium-ion batteries that power the Nissan LEAF zero-emission vehicle. The all-electric Nissan LEAF will be produced at Nissan’s vehicle assembly facility in Smyrna beginning in 2012.
The Nissan LEAF and battery production facilities will create up to 1,300 jobs when the plants are operating at full capacity. The battery plant, one of the largest vehicle battery manufacturing plants in North America at 1.3-million-square-feet at full capacity, will be capable of producing 200,000 advanced-technology batteries annually, said Nissan.
It will be located adjacent to the vehicle assembly plant, which will be retooled to accommodate production of the Nissan LEAF. Production capacity will be 150,000 electric cars annually.
Combined, the construction of the battery plant and modification of the Smyrna manufacturing facility represents an investment of up to $1.7 billion, which initially is supported by a DOE loan for 80 percent of that investment, up to $1.4 billion.
The loan was issued as part of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, a $25 billion program authorized by Congress as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
Approximately 13,000 U.S. consumers have placed a reservation for Nissan LEAF since reservations opened on April 20. The reservation process is open to the general public via www.NissanUsa.com.
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