After months of uncertainty regarding General Motors’ “unallocated” Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit, Michigan, there’s finally official word on the plant’s future. Today, the automaker announced Detroit-Hamtramck will serve as its first, fully dedicated electric vehicle assembly plant.
GM is investing $2.2 billion in Detroit-Hamtramck to build “a variety” of fully electric trucks and SUVs, the automaker confirmed via a press release today. We can expect to see the automaker’s first all-electric pickup start production in late 2021. Production of the Cruise Origin, GM’s self-driving shuttle bus that was announced last week, will follow after that.
Once the plant is fully operational, GM claims it will create over 2,200 jobs. Additionally, it will invest another $800 million in supplier tooling and other endeavors related to launching the electric trucks. Upgrades including new machines, conveyors, controls and tooling will be added to Detroit-Hamtramck’s paint and body shops and general assembly area.
Last December, we reported a rumor that South Korean chemical company LG Chem had plans to invest $916 million in an EV battery joint venture with GM. Today, GM also stated LG Chem is actually investing $2.3 billion to produce battery cells in Lordstown, Ohio. Those battery cells will supply the EVs made at Detroit-Hamtramck.
GM didn’t name any specific EV models it plans to build at Detroit-Hamtramck; however, other rumors have claimed the so-called BT1 electric truck and SUV program will include a new and dedicated EV architecture, including a skateboard-design chassis.
“When the plant reaches full production in 2024, it is expected to build about 80,000 electric vehicles a year,” the unnamed sources told Reuters last October. Also, an all-electric revival of the Hummer brand is apparently “under consideration.”
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