Battery Plant Hagan and His Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat

Stellantis eyes Canada for battery plant; forecaster says Brampton a possibility

‘Brampton would make a good place for a ba ery plant’ Stellan s CEO Carlos Tavares says the automaker is considering Canada as home to one of two ba ery plants the company plans to build in North America, and one forecaster says Brampton, Ont., might be the ideal loca on.

Tavares put Canada in the running Wednesday during a fi reside chat at an Automo ve Press Associa on event in Detroit.

“At least from those two, at least one will be in the U.S., perhaps two, it’s not decided yet,” Tavares said. “But there is also the op on that one of the two will be in Canada.” While the automaker has not decided on a loca on for either ba ery plant, he said Stellan s is in discussions with local North American authori es and technology partners. “We are already very advanced in those discussions,” Tavares said. “We know exactly what we want to do in terms of technology, in terms of chemistry.”

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Continued from Page 9 Sam Fiorani, vice-president of global vehicle forecas ng at AutoForecast Solu ons LLC, says Stellan s’ Assembly Plant in Brampton, Ont., could become home to a ba ery plant. Stellan s has plans to electrify the Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger muscle cars currently assembled at the plant, Fiorani says electrifi ed versions won’t be built in Ontario and those powered by internal-combus on engines are going to be axed. “At the moment, we don’t have any product earmarked there,” he said of Brampton. AutoForecast Solu ons says Brampton is likely to be without product by 2024. “But we’re looking for Stellan s to make some sort of investment [there],” Fiorani said. “It could be electricrelated. Brampton would make a good place for a ba ery plant.” Jerry Dias, na onal president of Unifor, which represents hourly workers at Brampton Assembly, said his expecta on is that the plant will con nue to build the Charger and Challenger. FCA Canada, the division of Stellan s that operates the factory, said in a statement that it “won’t discuss future products or plans for the Brampton Assembly Plant.” The company added: “However, as a reminder, the latest collec ve bargaining agreement [Oct. 2020] included plans to invest $50 million to introduce three new variants of the Dodge Charger and Challenger, and con nue produc on of the Chrysler 300.” Stellan s also plans to build three ba ery plants in Europe. “Europe is a li le bit ahead of North America in terms of electrifi ca on,” the CEO said. Stellan s, which is a shareholder in French ba ery maker Automo ve Cells Company (ACC), says that company will build one plant in Germany and another in France. Stellan s is also in discussions with the Italian government in eff ort to build a ba ery factory there.