GM opens electric motor plant in Baltimore County

GM opens electric motor plant in Baltimore County

Baltimore County has become part of GMs bet on the future of electric vehicles with the opening of an electric motor plant in White Marsh. GM is the first automaker to produce an electric motor in the U.S.

So far, the plant has 20 employees and 27 robots making the Chevrolet Spark EV motor. GM has spent $121 million on the plant, the U.S. Department of Energy has given $105 million, and the state of Maryland has offered up to $3 million in economic development grants. If GM can get to 374 jobs at the new plant and its transmission plant next door, it could qualify for $6 million in grants from Baltimore County, reports the Baltimore Sun.

GM has said the Spark EV will cost less than $25,000 after a $7,500 federal rebate. It will be sold in California and Oregon this summer.

The challenge is, can we create a technology, a vehicle, that the average buyer can look at and say, That is a cost-competitive vehicle? said Brett Smith of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich., to the Detroit News.