North American electric utility vehicle manufacturer Lion Electric has started producing its own battery packs at its Mirabel plant in the Canadian province of Québec. Final certification of the first Lion battery pack is expected in the first quarter of 2023.
Following this, Lion Electric plans to gradually ramp up production over the coming year. The first batteries produced in Mirabel will be used in the Lion5 electric truck and the Lion Ambulance, which are expected to go into production in the first quarter of 2023. When fully operational, Lion Electric’s battery plant in Mirabel is expected to reach an annual production capacity of five gigawatt-hours, as announced.
“The production of our first battery pack out of our Mirabel battery facility is an important step for Lion and should, over time, bring with it a new level of optimization for product design and production efficiency,” expresses Yannick Poulin, Lion’s Chief Operating Officer. With its own battery module and battery system manufacturing, Lion is driving the vertical integration of the value chain.
At the beginning of May 2021, Lion Electric had selected the city of Joliet in the US state of Illinois as the location for its vehicle plant in the USA. The production facility was recently inaugurated and is expected to offer an annual production capacity for up to 20,000 all-electric buses and trucks. Lion Electric thus intends to meet the growing demand for zero-emission vehicles “Made in America”. The US market is attractive not only in view of the coming transformation in the transport industry, but also because of the large school bus market, which is also facing the drive turnaround. Against this background, the first electric school bus recently rolled off the production line at Lion Electric in Joliet.
Amazon and First Student are among the customers. Amazon has ordered 2,500 all-electric Lion6 and Lion8 trucks to be delivered by 2025. First Student is taking delivery of 260 LionC electric school buses. The order is expected to be filled by the first half of 2023.
prnewswire.com (Mirabel), prnewswire.com (Joliet)