General Motors is preparing for an all-electric future as the automaker announced Friday it would be investing $760 million into its Toledo, Ohio, plant as it gets the facility ready to produce drive units for future GM EV trucks.
The automaker has been active these past few months as it gears up for what’s expected to be a massive transition to electric vehicles. Friday’s announcement is the latest in a string of events, indicating GM is aggressively targeting the EV market.
GM’s CFO claimed the automaker was hitting an “infliction point” in scaling EV production as it worked to become a leader in battery cell production.
The company’s joint venture (Ultium Cells) with LG Energy has four planned battery cell plants, one opening in each of the next four years, as the first one in Ohio began production earlier this month.
After releasing the highly anticipated Chevy Equinox EV, starting around $30,000 according to GM, the automaker unveiled its plans to provide “EVs for everyone,” including SUVs, crossovers, luxury, pickups, and more.
However, many people question GM’s ability to keep up with demand after EV sales have been disappointing as production ability continues to see setbacks.
In September, GM made several initiatives to make its vision a reality. On September 15, GM announced it would invest half a billion to upgrade its Indiana stamping facility to be able to support future EVs. And then, on September 20, GM revealed it would advocate for new EPA standards to accelerate EV adoption.
GM’s announcement Friday to upgrade its Ohio plant to get it ready to make EV drive units is another step in the right direction as the automaker looks to make good on its promise of EVs for everyone.
Chevy Silverado EV RST Source: Chevy
GM upgrades Ohio plant to build electric drive units
GM’s 2.8 million square feet facility in Toledo, Ohio, manufactures transmissions for several iconic GM models. Now, the plant will be the automaker’s first US power train facility to convert to producing EV-related products.
According to the press release, the upgrades will prepare the facility to manufacture electric drive units (EDU) for GM EV trucks, such as the GMC Hummer EV, GMC Sierra EV, and Chevy Silverado EV.
Gerald Johnson, executive vice president of GM global manufacturing and sustainability, speaks on how the new investments benefit both facility workers as well as the automaker, stating:
Our Toledo team has a long, proud history of building great products and they have worked hard to earn this investment. This investment helps build job security for our Toledo team for years to come and is the next step on our journey to an all-electric future.
Construction is slated to begin this month. The team at Toledo will continue manufacturing transmissions while scaling the ability to make drive units for its EV models at the same time. The plant has about 1,500 employees currently, yet GM says the investment will “bring employees along in the company’s EV transformation.”
Electrek’s Take
GM is making a lot of big promises with its campaign to provide “EVs for everyone.” To have that type of capacity will require an ample amount of manufacturing ability.
The few announcements from GM this month show the automaker is taking steps to ease the company’s transition. Will it be able to fulfill its goals? That will be the key question going forward as GM comes under the microscope for its aggressive EV campaigning.
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Air taxi startup Vertical Aerospace achieved a world’s first this week, completing the first flight between two airports through public airspace for an eVTOL at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Gloucestershire, England.
The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is the world’s largest military airshow, held every July and serving as a public showcase for the latest advancements in aviation technology. It’s fitting, then, that RIAT served as setting for the Vertical VX4 prototype’s first piloted public flight.
The eVTOL aircraft flew 17 miles from the company’s Flight Test Centre at Cotswold Airport to RAF Fairford, a Royal Air Force station used by the US Air Force. The Vertical VX4 reached speeds of 115 mph, and an altitude of 1800 ft, and also marked the first landing at a public location for an aircraft of this type.
The Vertical Aerospace entry was the only battery-electric aircraft present at RIAT 2025, and the flight served as a demonstration of the company’s broader strategy to unlock new hybrid-electric applications for defense, logistics, and special/close support missions where the eVTOL’s (relatively) quiet operations could give it a tactical advantage.
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“RIAT is a global stage for the most advanced, mission-ready aerospace technology, and we’re proud to showcase how electric aviation will support the future of defense,” says Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace. “Our hybrid-electric roadmap unlocks new capabilities for military operations, and Vertical’s RIAT presence reinforces our commitment to playing a meaningful role in the future of military and special mission aviation.”
Vertical’s VX4 debuted last year, with a 20% increase in the power-to-weight ratio that enables a top cruising speed of 150 mph and transports four passengers plus a pilot up to 100 miles on a single charge.
The inaugural VX4 flight was witnessed by several thousand UK aircraft enthusiasts, and showed how an eVTOL aircraft could integrate with real-world airport operations, building momentum toward more regular, certified deployment.
Electrek’s Take
Archer, BETA, EHang, Joby, XPeng – the list of eVTOL manufacturers seems to be as long as the list of new electric car brands that didn’t exist back when I first started working with EVs back in ::gulp:: the 1990s. The future of regional point-to-point air travel certainly seems to be vertical, and electric.
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Say what you will about Elon Musk, but Tesla has changed the way that millions of people buy cars and, by extension, car insurance. Now, Honda is taking a page from Tesla’s successful playbook and launching its own in-house insurance business. Enter: Honda Insurance Solutions.
Honda Insurance Solutions is being launched as a fully licensed insurance agency serving the insurance needs of Acura and Honda customers, but it’s not stopping at competitive pricing and coverage options for Honda cars and motorcycles. Honda Insurance Solutions promises to go several steps beyond Tesla’s offering with coverage for trailers, RVs, homes, and even pets.
“Honda Insurance Solutions offers customers access to coverage through a brand they know and trust,” says Petar Vucurevic, President, American Honda Insurance Solutions, LLC and Senior Vice President, American Honda Finance Corporation. “Insurance is a key touchpoint in the vehicle ownership journey, and we aim to deliver a superior experience tailored to the unique needs of each customer, while promoting safer driving and increased peace of mind on the road.”
The company says the launch of its new insurance business is just part of Honda’s broader digital vehicle sales platform strategy, with future plans to integrate insurance offerings into new products.
What Honda is doing right now is deepening relationships with its existing customers and finding ways to make money on products it hasn’t sold them – whether that’s the Harley parked in the garage next to their Prologue or the garage itself.
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Nobody ever says “this is business” before doing something nice, and the recently reborn Lion Electric company is keeping that streak alive by doing the unthinkable to cut costs: they’re going to void the warranties on hundreds of electric school buses.
In a letter issued to exiting Lion Electric customers last week, Deloitte Restructuring announced that the warranties on all Lion vehicles purchased outside of the company’s home Province of Quebec are null and void – leaving dozens of school districts in the lurch with stranded assets that won’t get fixed, and can’t be sold to generate funds for replacements.
“We are working with alternate vendors at the expense of the school district to help keep our electric buses functional and on the road,” explains Dr. Richard Decman, Superintendent of Herscher CUSD No. 2 district in Herscher, Illinois. “Currently, six of our 25 (Lion) electric buses need some type of repair.”
Student Transportation News reports that Lion buses represent fully half of Herscher’s overall fleet of 50 buses, and that the district has received nearly $10 million for the purchase of 25 electric buses and the related charging stations from various state and utility incentive programs.
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Herscher isn’t the only district having problems with Lion buses. “All four Lion buses that we own are currently parked and not being used,” Coleen Souza, interim transportation director of Winthrop Public Schools, told Clean Trucking. “Two of them are in need of repairs which would cost us money which we are not willing to invest in because the buses do not run for more than a month before needing more repairs.”
More of the same in Maine, where Yarmouth School Department bought two Lion Electric buses in 2023 with the state covering the costs. According to Superintendent Andrew Dolloff, the buses almost never worked. “We’ve had some sporadic service over the past two years, but as soon as the tech leaves, the buses produce error codes again,” explained Dolloff. ” and “Then the technician quits or is released, and we wait a few months for the next response.”
Dolloff added that Yarmouth’s electric buses did not operate during the 2024-25 school year.
Lion’s new owners are seemingly uninterested in their customers’ plight – which might be easily dismissed if those new owners, Groupe MACH, weren’t also the old owners of Lion Electric.
That’s right, kids. Quebec-based real estate company Groupe MACH, which stepped in to “save” Lion Electric earlier this summer, along with Ontario-based Mirella & Lino Saputo Foundation, bought $90 million of equity in Lion Electric back in 2023. And, while the MACH people may not have been the ones who ultimately made the call about voiding the warranties (that decision was made by the Deloitte bankruptcy team), it is absolutely Group MACH who have, to date, not announced plans to continue to honor those warranties, either.
Make of that what you will.
Deloitte Lion letter
SOURCES: School Transportation News, Clean Trucking, Deloitte.
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