GM Canadian Workers Approve Electric Vehicle Production

GM is investing 1 billion Canadian dollars (US $ 780 million) to transform the plant that currently produces the Chevrolet Equinox SUV SUV into its fourth facility in North America dedicated to the production of electric vehicles.

Toronto (Canada) – General Motors (GM) workers at the Canadian Ingersoll plant have ratified the collective agreement agreed between the company and the Unifor union that will allow the transformation of the facilities for the production of commercial vans electrical.
91% of the 1,900 workers at the plant, located about 150 kilometers southwest of Toronto, approved the agreement, which will be valid for three years, during a vote on Sunday and the results of which were released today.

Under the agreement, GM will invest 1 billion Canadian dollars (780 million US dollars) to transform the plant that currently produces the Chevrolet Equinox SUV SUV and make it its fourth facility in North America dedicated to the production of electric vehicles.

The investment will allow the Ingersoll plant to produce the BrightDrop EV 600, a new line of electric vehicles that GM unveiled last week.
Unifor President Jerry Dias said in a statement that the agreement “is the result of collaboration with the federal and Ontario (province) governments, as well as General Motors.”

Last week, GM revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas the creation of a new brand called BrightDrop for the production of electric delivery vans for companies such as FedEx or UPS.

BrightDrop will initially offer two products. The EP1, an electric truck for moving packages and the EV600, an electric delivery van similar to the vans used by FedEx or UPS parcel companies.

BrightDrop will also offer software and services to a package, food and other delivery industry that will represent a US $ 850 billion market by 2025.
The Ingersoll plant retrofit is the third transformation of Canada’s automotive industry to produce electric vehicles.
At the end of last year, Ford announced the investment of 1.8 billion Canadian dollars (1.41 billion US dollars) to convert its Oakville plant, also in nearby Toronto, into an electric vehicle facility.

And Fiat Chrysler, which after its merger with PSA is called Stellantis, will invest 1.58 billion Canadian dollars (1238 million US dollars) to produce electric and hybrid vehicles starting in 2024 at its Windsor plant.