Canda-based Lion Electric, a manufacturer of all-electric trucks and buses, is building a battery manufacturing plant and innovation center in Québec. The factory is planned to begin operations in early 2023 and will produce battery packs and modules made from Lithium-ion cells. Construction is projected to break ground over the next few months at a location to be confirmed in the near future.

The project and its development represent an investment of approximately $185 million CAD by Lion, which will benefit from important support by the federal and provincial governments of approximately $100 million CAD (amounting to $50 million CAD each).

With the construction of the plant, Lion predicts to see a considerable reduction in the cost of its vehicle manufacturing while ensuring control and optimization of a key component of its vehicle supply chain. Given the battery is the most expensive component of an electric vehicle, this new manufacturing capability will have a direct impact on the development of heavy-duty electric transportation while also offering environmental and economic benefits.

With a planned yearly production capacity of 5 gigawatt-hours in battery storage, Lion will be able to electrify approximately 14,000 medium and heavy-duty vehicles annually.

The manufacturing plant and innovation center will offer Lion strategic advantages, including a reduction in its battery system production cost as well as a stable line of procurement of battery packs. Highly automated, Lion’s factory is projected to produce one battery module every 11 seconds and a full battery pack every 5 minutes.

Lion Electric will be the first Canadian manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty vehicles to equip itself with its own automated battery pack manufacturing capability.

Lion’s innovation center will focus on research and development, with the goal of exploring and achieving new advancements in performance, range, energy capacity and the development of innovative products, and will allow the company the flexibility needed to rapidly adapt to emerging technologies.