Chrysler-parent Stellantis plans $2.8 billion overhaul of two Canadian factories to build EVs

Auto giant Stellantis will invest about $2.8 billion to overhaul two Ontario factories to build electric and hybrid vehicles, the company said on Monday, the latest installment in its plan to invest a total of $35 billion in electrification and related software initiatives around the world.

The revamp will allow the automaker to build hybrid and fully electric versions of several of its upcoming models using new “multi-energy” architectures. The company will also add a battery lab to its existing research and development facility in Windsor, creating 650 new jobs.

Retooling of the company’s Windsor, Ontario, assembly plant is expected to begin in 2023, with a revamp and modernization of a second plant, in Brampton, Ontario, to follow in 2024. Both plants will be up and running again by 2025.

The investments announced on Monday are part of a broader electrification overhaul revealed earlier this year. Stellantis aims to sell 5 million EVs annually by 2030, a total that will include all of the vehicles it sells in Europe and half of the passenger cars and light-duty trucks it sells in North America.

Most global automakers have announced similar investment plans as they move to compete in the EV market currently dominated by Tesla.

Stellantis didn’t say which models the revamped factories will be building, though it did say it expects both plants to add a third shift after the overhauls, meaning that they will be working nearly around the clock.

Currently, the Windsor plant builds the Chrysler Pacifica, Pacifica Hybrid and Voyager minivans; the Brampton factory builds the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans and the Dodge Challenger coupe.

Stellantis and Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution announced in March that they will together spend $4.1 billion to build a major EV battery factory in Windsor. That investment is expected to create 2,500 new jobs, the companies said at the time.