HAMTRAMCK – General Motors announced Tuesday the automaker will add 1,000 engineers and researchers in Michigan over the next two years to significantly expand its vehicle electrification expertise and develop hybrid and electric-powered vehicles, like the Chevrolet Volt.
The announcement by GM CEO Dan Akerson coincides with preparations for
delivery of the first Volt to customers in key states.
The new jobs will build, GM said in a press release, on its strategy to develop, validate and
manufacture automotive battery, electric motor and power control
technologies in-house as core competencies.
“GM is going to lead the industry in the adoption of various vehicle
electrification technologies, whether its electric vehicles with
extended-range capability, like the Chevrolet Volt, or the recently
introduced eAssist technology that will debut on the 2012 Buick LaCrosse,”
Akerson said. “We want to give our customers energy choices other than
petroleum and to make the automobile part of the solution when it comes to
the environment.”
The 2007 reveal of the Chevrolet Volt has spurred a flurry of activity
in the electrification of the automobile and has become an economic
multiplier for the state of Michigan. GM’s electric vehicle engineering
investment expands on the more than $700 million GM has invested in eight
facilities in Michigan to support Volt production.
GM has the industry’s largest and most technologically advanced battery
systems lab at its Warren Technical Center and has invested $336
million at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, home of the Volt, along
with another $43 million at the industry’s only battery pack manufacturing
plant in Brownstown Township. An additional $162 million investment
was announced last week to support powertrain operations in Flint and Bay
City, Mich., and Defiance, Ohio.
In addition to GM’s investments, suppliers such as LG Chem, utility
companies such as DTE Energy and organizations including the University of
Michigan and Wayne State University, are investing in Michigan jobs to
support Chevy Volt and electric vehicle development.
“The state of Michigan is proud to continue our long partnership with
GM as it drives toward a leaner, greener future,” Michigan Gov. Jennifer
Granholm said. “As we work to diversify our state’s economy both within the
auto industry and outside of it, electric vehicles will play a major role
in re-establishing Michigan as the North American center of automotive
manufacturing.”
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