LOCKPORT, N.Y.—General Motors says it will spend about $154 million to revamp an aging factory near Buffalo, New York, so it can make a key part for electric vehicle motors.
The automaker says it will add about 230 jobs at the factory in Lockport, about 30 miles northeast of Buffalo, to build stator modules, the part that creates a magnetic field to turn the motor. The part will go into motors for new electric trucks and SUVs.
In addition to renovation, the money will go toward buying and installing equipment needed to make the new part.
Currently the Lockport plant has about 1,500 workers who make radiators, condensers, heater cores, oil coolers, and other parts for internal combustion engines in trucks and SUVs. The new positions would be filled between 2023 and 2026, the company said in a statement.
GM says renovations to the plant will begin immediately. The plant built in 1910 will keep building combustion engine parts.
GM has set a goal of selling only electric passenger vehicles by 2035. It plans to spend $35 billion to roll out more than 30 new battery vehicles globally by 2025 as it aims to unseat Tesla as the electric vehicle sales leader.
