GM Invests $336 Million in Chevrolet Volt Factory
By Michelle Krebs December 7, 2009General Motors announced Monday that it will invest $336 million in the Detroit-Hamtramck 
assembly plant to begin production of the Chevrolet Volt electric car in 2010.
GM said that brings its total Volt-related investments in Michigan to $700 million, covering eight facilities.
"We expect the Detroit-Hamtramck plant will be the first facility in the U.S. owned by a major automaker to produce an electric car, Jon Lauckner, GM vice president of global product planning, told the company and government officials gathered at the plant Monday.
Detroit-Hamtramck will be the final assembly location for the Volt. It will use tooling from a plant in Grand Blanc, Mich.; lithium-ion batteries from GM's Brownstown Township battery pack manufacturing facility -- which starts producing batteries next month; camshafts and connecting rods from Bay City, Mich.; and stampings and the Volt's 1.4L engine-generator from Flint, Mich.
In addition to GM's $700 million in Volt-related facility investments, there are the many suppliers, utility companies and organizations investing in Michigan and the U.S. to support Volt production and electric vehicle development, Lauckner noted. In August, the U.S. Department of Energy selected 45 companies, universities and organizations in 28 states for more than $2 billion in awards for electric drive and battery manufacturing and transportation electrification.
Lauckner noted that since the Volt's debut in January 2007, other automakers have announced six plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles later that year, followed by 19 introductions in 2008 and five more this year. "We welcome the competition," he said.
The Volt's Detroit-Hamtramck home -- nicknamed the Poletown plant -- opened as a completely new facility in 1985. Its opening was controversial as it was built by razing much of the longtime Polish community that settled in the area. The plant is huge -- too large by current standards. And when it opened, it was equipped with so much high-tech equipment -- too much as it turned out -- that production went awry. GM tore out some of the automation.
Over the years, the plant has produced mostly Cadillacs. It employs about 1,200 workers, including 1,100 hourly workers. The Volt will be built on the existing assembly line at Detroit-Hamtramck with other equipment being brought from other GM facilites.
Assembly of Volt prototype vehicles will begin in the spring, with the start of regular production scheduled for late 2010.
The Volt is an electric vehicle with extended-range capability. It is designed to drive up to 40 miles on electricity without using gasoline or producing tailpipe emissions. When the Volt's lithium-ion battery is depleted of energy, an engine-generator seamlessly operates to extend the total driving range to about 300 miles before refueling or stopping to recharge the battery. Pricing has not been announced.
Photo by GM
The Chevrolet Volt undergoes testing in the GM lab.
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