The Lion Electric Company (NYSE: LEV), a Canadian manufacturer of all-electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, has announced plans to build a new manufacturing plant in Illinois. The facility is expected to come online in the second half of 2022, with a production capacity of 20,000 vehicles per year.

The new 900,000-square-foot facility will help Lion respond to increasing demand in the marketplace for Made in America zero-emission vehicles, while bringing production closer to its customers. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity worked with the economic development agency Intersect Illinois on the site selection process. The company has qualified for the state’s EDGE incentive program, which supports companies making large-scale capital investments that lead to significant job creation. As part of its agreement with Illinois, Lion has committed to an initial investment of at least $70 million over a 3-year period.

The Joliet location offers Lion a geographically centralized base of manufacturing and operations, and the company plans to build a robust local supply chain within the area.

Over the last decade, Lion has delivered over 390 all-electric heavy-duty vehicles in North America. All of Lion’s vehicles are purpose-built for electric propulsion, and assembled in North America. The company has service centers in California, New York, Washington, Florida and Arizona.

“Lion is the leader in electric school buses and has always been dedicated to the US market, and our commitment to be close to our customers is one of the core values we have as a company,” said Marc Bedard, CEO and founder of Lion.

“The new Joliet facility will put Illinois at the forefront of a national movement to transition to zero-emission vehicle use, advancing our own goals of putting one million of these cars on the road by 2030,” said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. “In Illinois we know that a clean energy economy is about more than just vehicles—it’s about healthier communities and jobs for those who live there.”

Source: Lion Electric