GM pauses production of its BrightDrop vans
General Motors is suspending production of its electric BrightDrop cargo van at its plant in Ingersoll, Canada, this month. According to a media report, battery supply problems are to blame.
This was reported by the London Free Press, citing the union representing workers at the plant. Production at the plant has been halted for the entire month of July. “Sales are through the roof. Things are good, but we just don’t have batteries,” Mike Van Boekel, chairperson of the responsible union Unifor Local 88, is quoted as saying. He says the plant has already been running at capacity for nearly four years. “GM is building more batteries, but it doesn’t happen overnight,” Van Boekel says.
General Motors is known to manufacture battery cells through its Ultium Cells joint venture with LG Energy Solution. So far, the company only has a battery plant in Ohio, USA. A second plant in Tennessee is still under construction and is expected to be operational in 2023. A third factory is planned in Michigan but is not expected to be completed until the end of 2025. And a fourth battery cell factory will be built in Indiana – but under the direction of GM and Samsung SDI.
GM started producing electric transporters for its BrightDrop brand in Ingersoll, Canada, at the end of 2022. The manufacturer had previously only launched a small series with the help of an unnamed partner in the US. The actual production of the cargo vans based on the Ultium platform takes place in Ingersoll. Initially, GM kicked off construction of the Zevo 600, while production of the smaller Zevo 400 was scheduled for the end of 2023.
According to earlier information, production at Ingersoll is expected to reach 50,000 electric transporters annually by 2025. Customers include FedEx, Walmart, Hertz and Verizon, Merchants Fleet and DHL Canada.
Even before the current pause in production, workers at Ingersoll were on rotating shifts, according to London Free Press. Employees worked two weeks at the plant and then had four weeks off. The plant employs about 1,500 workers, according to the source.
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