Photo by: Charlie Martin

General Motors plans to invest in the City of St. Catharines to manufacture new Ultimum drive motor vehicles.

By forming support agreements with federal and Ontario government partners, they plan to use the St. Catharines propulsion plant for their fast-growing electric vehicle lineup.

This is planned to enable the production of more than 400,000 electric vehicle drive units per year. It is also projected to provide around 500 jobs in the Garden City. The drive units will support the assembly of multiple electric vehicles, including the fully electric BrightDrop delivery vans. 

The new Ultimum electric drive units are to replace some internal combustion engine production after retooling, however, the production of V-8 engines will continue alongside the new motors at the plant for some time.   

“This is a time of historic transformation for our industry and with this investment, St. Catharines will play a critical role in GM’s plan to build 1 million EVs in North America by 2025,” said General Motors on their instagram.

There are currently approximately 1,100 employees producing V-6 and V-8 engines at the St. Catharines plant.