Auto giant Stellantis will invest about $2.8 billion to overhaul two Canadian factories to build fully electric and hybrid vehicles, the company said on Monday, as part of its $35 billion global commitment to electrification and related initiatives.
The revamp will allow the automaker to build such versions of several of its upcoming models using new “multi-energy” architectures. The company also will add a battery lab to its existing research and development facility in Windsor, Ontario, creating 650 new jobs.
Retooling of the company’s Windsor assembly plant is expected to begin in 2023, with a revamp and modernization of a second plant in Brampton, Ontario, to follow the next year. Both revamped factories are to be up and running by 2025, Stellantis said.
The investments announced on Monday are part of a broader electrification overhaul revealed earlier this year. Stellantis aims to sell 5 million EVs annually by 2030, a total that will include all of the vehicles it sells in Europe and half of the passenger cars and light-duty trucks it sells in North America.
Most global automakers have announced similar investment plans as they move to compete in the EV market currently dominated by Tesla.
Stellantis didn’t say which models the revamped factories will be building, though it did say it expects both plants to add a third shift after the overhauls, meaning they will be working nearly around the clock.
Currently, the Windsor plant builds the Chrysler Pacifica, Pacifica Hybrid and Voyager minivans, while the Brampton factory makes the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans and the Dodge Challenger coupe.
Stellantis and Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution announced in March that they will together spend $4.1 billion to build a major EV battery factory in Windsor. That investment is expected to create 2,500 new jobs, the companies said at the time.