Electric car plant, plus 300 jobs, coming to Webster City ANS

this is some good news, at least for Webster.  It looks like the advent of the viable electric car is bringing an explosion of new brands of cars.  Here's another one, set to start very soon. 
Find it here:  http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100726/NEWS/7260313/-1/ENT05/Electric-car-plant-coming-to-Webster-City
--Kim


 

Electric car plant, plus 300 jobs, coming to Webster City

By JEFF ECKHOFF • jeckhoff@dmreg.com • July 26, 2010

Up to 2,500 electric cars a week could start rolling out of a new Webster City assembly plant under a deal slated to be announced today.

The new operation is expected to mean 300 or more jobs for Webster City, which is hurting from the closing of washer-dryer manufacturer Electrolux and the loss of its 850 jobs.

Envision Motor Co., an Ames firm formed to combine foreign-made car bodies with American-made electrical parts, is expected to announce a deal to assemble a line of three all-electric vehicles in 292,000 square feet of factory space now occupied by Eagle Manufacturing, an Electrolux subcontractor.


The vehicles - a pickup, a station wagon and a cargo van - are promised to get more than 200 miles on a single battery charge. They'll sell, possibly beginning late this fall, under an "Electric Motor Cars" logo for $32,300 to $37,300.

They'll join a soon-to-be crowded market that will include the Chevy Volt, a car expected in November, and the Nissan Leaf, a car due the following month. Many more car makers have electric vehicles in development - including Toyota, which earlier this month announced plans with California-based Tesla Motors for an electric version of the Rav4.

Shawn Carson, chief financial officer for Envision Motor Co., said the Webster City assembly plant will start with 25,000 square feet of space and expand as Electrolux work winds down.

Eagle, a manufacturing company that now performs a variety of contract duties for Electrolux, is scheduled to lose that work by the end of next year. Electrolux announced in December 2009 that it planned to move its production to Juarez, Mexico, and eliminate its Webster City manufacturing by the first quarter of 2011.

The new assembly plant is scheduled to produce 50 cars a week for the first three months, all of which will be sent to a still-building nationwide network of roughly 200 dealers.

The plant is expected to begin making retail vehicles by the end of the year, Carson said. Ramped-up production eventually should reach 2,500 cars a week and require "300-plus" jobs in Webster City, he said.

Workers at the new assembly plant will receive fully built "gliders" - European-made cars with seats and interior niceties, but no motors - and will add batteries and other electric equipment. Envision documents say two workers with a hydraulic lift and all the proper parts should be able to create a functioning car in less than six hours.

Joseph Fleming Jr., owner of Eagle Manufacturing, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Gene Gabus, a Des Moines car dealer who plans to sell the vehicles in Iowa and oversee distribution for 32 other states, has estimated that he can sell 50,000 a year, Carson said.

Joel Peterson, president of the business and industry committee of Webster City Area Development, the city's business-attraction entity, said the new jobs should cushion the blow in a community that expects to see at least 600 more pink slips by first part of next year.

"Any good news for Webster City is great news just because of the situation we're in," Peterson said. "That would be just welcome, great news."

Carson said the first 38 gliders should be in Webster City by the end of the week.

Chevy Volts are scheduled to be built in Detroit. The Nissan Leaf began production in Japan but will be made in Tennessee beginning in 2012.