#8 – Inside Our Industry – Are You Ready for Electric Vehicles?

Are You Ready for Electric Vehicles?

When looking for information to share in this week’s Inside Our Industry, one topic kept appearing – electric vehicles (EVs). Back in The Agurban days, we shared some EV information (#622, #656, #727, and #738). As an industrial developer with many buildings filled with automotive suppliers, we are keenly aware and interested in the products manufactured in that space. Manufacturers of internal combustion engine components (gas-powered engines) are expected to decrease in importance and number, as the makers of electric vehicle components grow in size and number. Below is a list with brief description of the various articles on EVs that have appeared over that past couple of weeks.

• Rivian to begin deliveries of electric pickup truck in June 2021 – Rivian has started to run a pilot production line at its factory in Normal, Illinois, as the electric vehicle startup prepares to bring its pickup truck and SUV to market in Summer 2021. Deliveries of its R1T electric pickup truck will begin in June 2021. Deliveries of the R1S electric SUV will start in August 2021.
• Tesla Chooses Texas – Electric car maker Tesla has chosen to build its second U.S. auto factory in Austin, Texas. The factory will assemble the Cybertruck, the Semi, the Model 3 and Model Y SUV.
• Auto manufacturer site selector still eyeing Orlando – Electra Meccanica’s new U.S. facility will assemble the single-seat SOLO electric vehicle. The project would generate 200 new jobs.
• 2022 GMC Hummer EV set to debut this fall, with production starting in Fall 2021 – General Motors will build the new GMC Hummer EV at its repurposed Detroit-Hamtramck plant in Michigan.
• Tesla’s U.S. Rival Breaks Ground on its First American Factory – Nikola Corporation broke ground on its first manufacturing facility in Arizona, bringing its vision to start manufacturing hydrogen heavy-duty trucks closer to reality. Nikola expects to start producing hydrogen trucks from its factory in Coolidge, Arizona, in the second half of 2023.
• Gedia to build EV parts Georgia facility – Gedia Automotive Group is to build a manufacturing facility that will start production with a focus on parts for electric vehicles. Gedia supplies lightweight automotive parts to Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, among others. Operations are expected to start in the third quarter of 2021.
• Auto parts manufacturer to close two Battle Creek facilities – Auto parts manufacturer Marley Precision, Inc. submitted a letter to the city and state announcing plans to permanently close both of its facilities this fall. The Japanese company specializes in manufacturing and supplying direct fuel injection components.
• New York to invest $750 million to expand EV infrastructure – Gov. Andrew Cuomo said an investment program would allocate $750 million to build charging stations and other electric-vehicle infrastructure as part of the state’s long-term goal to reduce emissions. The measure is set to create more than 50,000 charging stations.

We will keep you posted on this ever-growing market.