EV demand has big factory projects churning

The number of new electric nameplates that will launch by decade's end continues to grow. Each encouraging monthly sales and registration report emboldens an automaker somewhere to revise its EV strategy upward or push ahead with schedules.

The industry knows EVs are coming. And manufacturers everywhere have big long-term production plans for them. About 40 EV models of all types are on the market in the United States, but that number could triple over the next two to three years, according to automaker announcements and production forecasters. General Motors alone has said it expects to have more than 20 available in North America by the end of 2025.

But getting factories in place to produce them is a slow process, involving potentially billions in capital spending, hiring and training workers, and simultaneous product development programs. Multiple factory preparations are underway around North America to put EVs into production. These automaker projects are in various stages of making it happen.

American Honda Motor Co. is partnering with General Motors to co-develop its first two new-era electric vehicles, the Honda Prologue and the Acura ZDX crossovers, and they will be built on GM's battery-electric Ultium platforms. Both models are in advanced stages of manufacturing preparations and will go on sale in early 2024. Neither American Honda nor GM has said officially where the EVs will be produced. However, the premium-class Acura ZDX is expected to share a platform with the Cadillac Lyriq, which is in production at GM's factory in Spring Hill, Tenn. Less clear is where the Prologue will be produced. That nameplate will likely be based on the Chevrolet Blazer EV and, if so, could be assembled at GM's factory in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.

BMW has not revealed which electric models it will build at its plant in Greer, S.C., but the company has earmarked $1.7 billion to upgrade the factory to build at least six battery-powered models there by 2030. According to AutoForecast Solutions, a battery-powered iX5 crossover will start the flow in late 2026, followed by the iX7 a year later. Production of the iX6 and iXM crossovers could begin in 2028.

BMW is investing $866 million at its plant in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi to produce full electric Neue Klasse models. The expansion will add around 1,000 jobs. The San Luis Potosi factory produces BMW's 2 and 3 Series sedans, but will build the next-generation 3 Series electric sedan and iX3 electric crossover.

Stellantis has yet to reveal the production site for its all electric Dodge Charger Daytona SRT, but it is expected to reach the market in 2024. That suggests the automaker is well along with its manufacturing planning. Shunning the near-silence of traditional EVs, the vehicle is outfitted with an industry-first exhaust system for an EV. The sound, which can reach 126 decibels and is as loud as today's Hellcat-powered vehicles, is sent through an amplifier and tuning chamber at the rear of the vehicle.

Work is well underway on Ford Motor Co.'s $5.6 billion manufacturing campus in West Tennessee called BlueOval City. The site will include a 4-million-square-foot assembly plant that will produce a next-generation electric pickup. When it comes online in 2025, it will be the largest plant Ford has built. CEO Jim Farley has described the project as a "marvel of simplification." Beyond the vehicle assembly plant, the campus will include a battery plant, an on-site supplier park, its own utility system and roughly 380 acres set aside for farming until that land is needed for expansion. Ford said the Tennessee plant will have the capacity to build 500,000 electric pickups per year.

Ford is investing $1.3 billion to transform its Oakville Assembly Plant in Ontario into an electric vehicle center that will come online in late 2024. The site, renamed the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will include a 407,000-square-foot battery pack assembly plant that will use cells produced at Ford's BlueOval SK Battery Park joint venture in Kentucky. Automotive News has reported that the automaker plans to build a pair of three-row crossover EVs there, roughly the size of the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator. Ford officials have said preproduction of the yet-to-be-confirmed products will begin in Oakville by the end of 2024 with full production in early 2025.

GM is investing $4 billion in its Orion Assembly plant north of Detroit to convert it to build electric pickups on the automaker's Ultium battery platform. GM said the Michigan plant, which currently builds the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV, eventually will build electric versions of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups. Chevrolet will end production of the Bolt, which is built on GM's previous-generation battery architecture, at the end of this year. Gerald Johnson, GM's executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability, told Automotive News in June that Orion Assembly will come back online in the first quarter of 2025.

In 2021, GM said it will invest more than $1 billion to prepare an assembly plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, for EV production. Since then, the automaker has revealed electric versions of the Chevrolet Blazer and Equinox crossovers, both of which will be built at the Ramos Arizpe factory. Regular production has not yet started on either the Blazer or Equinox EVs, a Chevy spokesperson told Automotive News, but the plant has produced "a small number of pre-production units." Blazer EV production is beginning this summer, followed by the Equinox EV this fall, Chevy said. Deliveries of both vehicles are expected before the end of 2023.

Separate from its EV production arrangement with GM, Honda is developing an electric vehicle and battery-manufacturing hub at its cluster of plants in Ohio. Those plans rest on the retooling of Honda's Marysville Auto Plant, East Liberty Auto Plant and the massive Anna Engine Plant — all of which will be converted to build EVs and EV components at a cost of $700 million, a project underway. The project will enable Honda to roll out EVs based on its Honda e:Architecture by 2026.

Hyundai Motor Group has begun constructing a $5.5 billion EV and battery complex outside of Savannah, Ga., called the Metaplant, that is slated to open in January 2025. The Metaplant will assemble six models for the Hyundai, Genesis and Kia nameplates, and will churn out 300,000 EVs a year, with the ability to add 200,000 more, depending on demand. Details about what specific models will be built there are still unknown. But Hyundai Motor North America CEO Jose Muñoz has said that Genesis will benefit the most from the factory.

Jeep's Wrangler-inspired Recon EV, with rugged styling that appears made for trails, is expected to reach the market next year, but Stellantis has not yet announced where the eco-friendly off-roader will be built. The Recon will offer open-air experiences like the Wrangler with a power top and removable doors and glass. It features Selec-Terrain traction management, e-locker axle technology, underbody protection, tow hooks and off-road tires. It also has the latest-generation Uconnect infotainment system, including travel guides for notable off-road trails.

Other than confirming that the new electric Jeep Wagoneer S will be produced in North America, Stellantis has not announced where it will be built starting next year. Jeep is targeting a battery range of 400 miles for the Wagoneer S and aims to produce 600 hp with a 0 to 60 mph time of around 3.5 seconds. It will be sold in major markets around the world, including Europe.

Kia will add the forthcoming three-row EV9 to the mix at its assembly plant in West Point, Ga., starting in early 2024. The EV9 promises utility vehicle features, such as significant towing capability, with luxury touches such as swiveling captain's chairs with heating and ventilation. The EV will have dimensions similar to the popular gasoline-powered Kia Telluride, including nearly 8 inches of ground clearance.

Nissan Motor Co. is spending $500 million at its Canton, Miss., assembly plant to build a pair of electric vehicles starting mid-decade, one each for the Nissan and Infiniti brands. The Canton project is the first of several North American Nissan investments in EV and battery production over the next five years, but the company has not yet revealed further details. Nissan will assemble the two models on a new line at the 4.7-million-square-foot Canton factory, which currently has a 410,000-vehicle annual production capacity and builds the Altima midsize sedan and the Frontier and Titan pickups.

The Volvo-affiliated EV brand Polestar is preparing to launch U.S. production of its volume model — the Polestar 3 crossover — at Volvo's South Carolina assembly plant. But its October 2023 start was pushed to second-quarter 2024. That production delay forced Polestar, which sold 51,491 vehicles last year, to recalibrate its 2023 volume forecast. The EV maker now expects 2023 global sales volumes of 60,000 to 70,000, compared with its earlier forecast of about 80,000. The U.S.-built model will sport dual motors and have an estimated EPA range of up to 300 miles. It will start at $85,300, including shipping.

Ram will build the electric REV version of its 1500 truck in late 2024, but the automaker has not yet specified where. The EV will offer a standard 168-kilowatt-hour battery pack with a targeted range of up to 350 miles, and an optional 229-kWh battery pack that will yield 500 miles. Ram says the electric truck will deliver a 0 to 60 mph time of 4.4 seconds.

Ram will launch an electric variant of its ProMaster large van this year at its plant in Saltillo, Mexico. The brand plans to have "a fully electrified solution" in the majority of its segments by 2025.

Rivian is moving ahead with plans to begin EV production at a new $5 billion factory east of Atlanta in 2026, despite protests from local groups that oppose the project and have criticized its tax subsidies. The automaker will use the new plant to produce what it calls its R2 platform, designed to make EVs that are more affordable than its current R1T pickup and R1S crossover. Rivian estimates the Georgia facility will be capable of producing up to 400,000 vehicles per year with more than 7,500 workers. Rivian originally planned to open the plant in 2025.

Construction is underway in Blythewood, S.C., on a $2 billion assembly plant for Scout Motors, the newly formed subsidiary of Volkswagen that intends to resurrect the Scout name for a battery-electric pickup and SUV. The first prototype of a Scout BEV is due to be revealed next year, according to Scout CEO Scott Keogh, with production to begin no later than 2027. Details of the vehicles and their attributes are sketchy so far, beyond the fact that they will be built on a new Rugged SUV platform designed in Germany.

Tesla is making final preparations to build its highly anticipated Cybertruck pickup at its Austin, Texas, factory, most likely in the third quarter of this year. Recent sightings of test versions on the streets of Northern California show that its wild styling has not changed much since the truck was first presented in 2019. CEO Elon Musk said in May that the Cybertruck's annual sales will likely be between 250,000 and half a million. "We'll start production later this year and we'll start handing over cars later this year," Musk said at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in May. "We'll make as many as people want and can afford."

Tesla will build its first Mexico assembly plant near the northern industrial city of Monterrey, not far from factories operated by General Motors and Kia, which will also make EVs. Tesla has said its new Mexico plant will be significantly different from its facilities in California, Texas, Germany and China, with new manufacturing and assembly techniques designed to reduce costs by half. The plant is expected to open in as little as two years, producing vehicles with sticker prices of about $30,000 — moving Tesla into mass-market segments, according to financial analysts.

Toyota Motor Corp. will build its first U.S.-made electric vehicle, a three-row electric crossover, at its massive assembly plant in Georgetown, Ky., starting in 2025, the automaker revealed in May. Retooling the 9-million-square-foot Georgetown assembly plant for the EV is part of a $461 million investment announced in 2021. Toyota hasn't said what other BEVs might be slated for North American production, but is expected to do so within the next two years.

Vietnamese automaker VinFast intends to construct a $4 billion EV-manufacturing plant in North Carolina, despite saying in March that production will be delayed a year, to 2025. Earlier this year, VinFast said state regulators had given it one of the environmental permits it needs to begin construction. VinFast plans to build several models at the plant, including two compact crossovers. The first phase of the project will be focused on production of up to 150,000 vehicles a year, the company has said, and the second phase will focus on battery production.

Volkswagen is expected to convert portions of its plant in Puebla, Mexico, to EV production within the next five years to support the German brand's full global conversion from internal combustion to battery electric propulsion. Rumors have the brand building a small BEV crossover in Puebla, perhaps the ID3, which could be exported to North and South America as well as to Europe. But the timing of the factory conversion hasn't been revealed, nor have the planned BEVs been identified that will flow from Puebla. The Mexican plant currently makes the ICE-powered Tiguan and Taos crossovers and Jetta sedan, all of which have at least one more product cycle to complete before they would be converted to battery electric.

Volvo Cars has delayed the production of a new electric crossover at its 2.3-million-square-foot factory in Ridgeville, S.C., because of software development issues related to the new all electric platform that underpins the EX90 electric crossover. The EV was scheduled to start production this December but is now expected to start in second-quarter 2024. At launch, the three-row EX90 will be available in a twin-motor, all-wheel-drive version. Its 111-kilowatt-hour battery delivers 496 hp and an EPA-estimated range of up to 300 miles.

— Vince Bond Jr., Laurence Iliff, Urvaksh Kakaria, Michael Martinez, Carly Schaffner, Lindsay VanHulle and Larry P. Vellequette