The Lion Electric Company, a leading manufacturer of all-electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles, announced that it officially inaugurated its new manufacturing factory that will produce lithium-ion batteries for medium and heavy-duty vehicles in Mirabel.
The first of its kind in Canada, this recently built 175,000 square feet facility located at the YMX International Aerocity of Mirabel, Quebec will power electric vehicles assembled by Lion at its Saint-Jérôme, Quebec and Joliet, IL manufacturing plants.
In the presence of Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy and Benoit Charrette, Minister of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks, this major event brought together various Lion stakeholders, including customers, employees, partners and members of the electrification of transportation ecosystem in North America.
"I am proud that Lion Electric is increasing its production capacity with a new battery facility in Mirabel, with a $50 million loan from our government, which will create 135 high-paying jobs. Lion is a great Québec success story in an ecosystem that is fundamental to the green economy we are building. Our government is a great believer in the battery industry and projects like this are proof that Québec has all it takes to be a leader in the green economy." - François Legault, Premier of Québec
Following the completion of the installation of the initial portion of the battery assembly line in Mirabel, production of the first battery pack was completed at the end of 2022. Final certification of the first battery pack model is expected in the first half of 2023, followed by a gradual production ramp-up in 2023. The first Lion batteries will serve to power the LionC and LionD school buses and the Lion5 trucks.
The new facility is targeted to reach a production capacity of 1.7 gigawatt hour by the end of the year. At full scale, it should have an annual production capacity of 5 gigawatt hours. This would enable Lion to electrify approximately 14,000 medium and heavy-duty vehicles per year, depending on the vehicle mix.
To date, Lion has delivered more than 950 all-electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in North America, that have collectively driven more than 10 million miles. All of Lion's vehicles are purpose-built for electric propulsion and are manufactured at Lion's North American facilities. Once the Quebec and Illinois factories are at full capacity, Lion expects to be able to manufacture 22,500 electric buses and trucks per year. By vertically integrating components of the battery system, the Company, which has approximately 1,400 employees, intends to strengthen its leadership position in the North American transportation industry.
