Pritzker, senators celebrate as Joliet electric vehicle plant gears up

The Lion Electric plant in Joliet has become the first vehicle assembly plant to operate in the Chicago area in more than 50 years.

That fact was repeated several times by Gov. JB Pritzker and others gathered Friday to celebrate the opening of the assembly plant for electric buses and commercial trucks.

“I think the timing is right for what we are doing today,” Lion Electric founder and CEO Marc Bedard told a gathering of several hundred people, including suppliers and customers.

Lion Electric actually has been assembling buses in Joliet since November. The factory floor Friday was filled with buses in various stages of assembly.

The officials who joined Bedard lauded the 900,000-square-foot plant at 3835 Youngs Road as a cornerstone for efforts to focus more Illinois manufacturing in the direction of clean-energy products.

“It’s great to celebrate not just Lion Electric but the future of manufacturing in Illinois,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said.

U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin pointed to the federal Clean School Bus Program, which he called “a $5 billion downpayment on replacing diesel school buses.”

“Thanks to Lion Electric, we’ll find that many of those buses will be built right here in Joliet,” Durbin said.

The Joliet plant at full capacity will be able to produce 20,000 vehicles a year and employ 1,400 workers, according to Lion Electric.

The plant currently employs about 250 workers and is gearing up to reach a capacity of 2,500 vehicles a year by the end of 2023, general manager Eric Pansegrau said while giving a tour of the facility.

At full capacity, the plant will be able to put together a bus that is road-ready in one hour, Pansegrau said.

Lion Electric said the Joliet plant is the largest manufacturing plant of medium- and heavy-duty electric commercial vehicles in the U.S.

Lion Electric is based in Montreal, Canada, where it also has a factory. The company said it has 1,100 all-electric vehicles on the road today.

Buses and trucks are fully assembled at the Joliet plant.

The fiberglass bus exteriors, floors, speakers, lights and electric components all are put together from parts shipped to the plant. Although the plant does not make parts, it does more detailed sub-assembly such as installing sealants and glass.

“We have full control of the whole assembly process,” Pansegrau said. “There’s a lot of hands-on interaction with the product.”

Once a bus is put together, it’s tested before being sent to the customer, he said.

“We actually utilize bus drivers,” Pansegrau said. “Who better to test a bus than a bus driver? So we will have local bus drivers drive and test them.”

The Joliet plant is making the new LionD bus model, which has a flat front and all electrical, heating and cooling components below the floor. The LionC model, also made in Joliet, has the battery below the floor but other components in the front under a hood.

“Who better to test a bus than a bus driver? So we will have local bus drivers drive and test them.”

—  Lion Electric general manager Eric Pansegrau

The school bus market is where the business is now, thanks in large part to federal government programs that incentivize the conversion from diesel to electric.

Speakers at the event included Debra Shore, regional administrator for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5. Shore cited new federal grant programs providing millions more for schools to convert to electric bus fleets.

“The time has come to take a hard look at the way we transport our children and realize we can do better,” Shore said.

Bedard noted First Student, one of the nation’s largest school bus companies, has 270 Lion Electric buses. The Atlanta public school system recently put in an order for 25 Lion Electric buses, he said.

“The whole EV [electric vehicle] market is booming right now,” Bedard said, “and I hope you realize Lion is ready.”