Lion Electric announces construction of battery manufacturing plant in Quebec

Lion Electric Co., a manufacturer of all-electric trucks and buses, has announced the construction of a battery manufacturing plant and innovation center in Quebec, Canada. Using cutting-edge technology, 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.

According to the company, the project and its development represent an investment of approximately $185 million CAD by Lion, who 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.

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 is also expected to offer Lion many 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 five minutes. Lion 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.

“Lion is an important player in Quebec and Canada’s ecosystem of electrification of transportation. This factory will allow Lion to integrate a fundamental element to the supply chain of our electric vehicles. Thanks to the financing provided by the federal and provincial governments, we will now be able to manufacture in Canada what we previously imported. Lion, Quebec and Canada will gain from this, both on the economic and environmental fronts, to the great benefit of generations to come,” says Marc Bédard, CEO and founder of Lion Electric.