GM to idle BrightDrop output in Canada until spring 2024 due to battery delays

General Motors says it will idle its CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ont., due to delays in the supply of battery modules.

The automaker said Friday that output of its electric BrightDrop commercial vans built there won’t resume until the spring of 2024.

At that time, van production will be supplied by CAMI’s new 400,000 square-foot battery-module line in Ingersoll. It will have the capacity to fully support BrightDrop Zevo production at the factory and supplement electric-vehicle production at other GM plants.

Currently, the Ultium battery that powers BrightDrop vans is made in Ohio.

About 1,500 people, 1,200 of which are Unifor members, assemble the large BrightDrop Zevo 600 cargo van and the smaller EV410. GM says layoffs will begin in October.

BrightDrop's customers include Hertz, Walmart, FedEx, Verizon and DHL Canada.

In July, Mike Van Boekel, Unifor plant chairperson with Local 88, said a lack of available batteries is limiting production today, but the expansion at the plant provides “a great bright light at the end of the tunnel.”