Just a week after Stellantis announced it was halting Jeep production in Brampton, another southern Ontario EV auto plant is on the outs.
What happened: General Motors announced that it’s shutting down production of the BrightDrop electric van at its CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, and has no plans to resume manufacturing the EV. The facility began producing the van in 2022, following a $1 billion EV retooling.
- Production at the plant was put on hold in May. GM cited lower-than-expected demand for EVs, though it said the move was only a temporary one.
Why it matters: As Canada’s first all-EV manufacturing facility, the CAMI plant was touted as a milestone marking the beginning of a new era for Canadian industry. Its closure might mark the symbolic death of this short-lived epoch — or if not death, at least a deep coma.
- EV demand has simply not materialized as automakers had hoped in North America, where high costs and a lack of charging infrastructure remain serious impediments.
- According to The Logic, $32 billion of Canada’s $46 billion worth of investments in major EV projects were either stalled or in serious jeopardy as of late May.
What’s next: If things get even bleaker (like if the $15 billion Honda EV expansion goes kaput), Ottawa will likely face calls to eat its losses and end the grand EV experiment. This could spiral, with carmakers potentially getting their wish to see sales mandates scrapped.—QH
