General Motors recently marked a significant milestone: becoming the first automaker to manufacture electric drive components in North America. Although other OEMs have established EV manufacturing on this continent (notably Nissan) the drive components themselves have been sourced from overseas.
GM has begun electric motor and drive unit manufacturing at its Baltimore Operations plant located in White Marsh, Md. The drive components will be used in its small Spark EV city car, which the automaker says can dash from 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in under eight seconds. The Spark EV will be made available in California and Oregon this year, with other markets expected to follow.
To ensure the Baltimore facility was up to the task, a pilot production line was set up in Wixom, Mich. to refine the process, with extensive training performed to ensure workers in Baltimore were up to the task of operating the sophisticated equipment required for electric motor and driveline component manufacture.
“The motor design was created by American engineers and it’s being manufactured and assembled by American workers,” remarked Baltimore Operations plant manager Bill Tiger. “By designing electric motors in Michigan and manufacturing them at Baltimore Operations, GM controls the design, materials and production processes, as well as reducing costs and improving performance, quality, reliability and manufacturability.”
