MONTREAL -- Lion Electric Company, which manufactures all-electric medium and heavy-duty vehicles, has plans to set up a battery manufacturing plant and innovation centre in the Aérocité internationale de Mirabel, in the Laurentians.
Work is set to begin soon on the 1.6 million-square-foot site.
Lion Electric explains it chose the location based on proximity to its assembly plant in Saint-Jérôme, as well as easy access to highways and the airport.
The company says it also wants to redevelop some of Mirabel's existing airport facilities into a test track.
In April, Saint-Jérôme Mayor Janice Bélair-Rolland accused the Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) of unfairly trying to attract Lion Electric to build on its land.
She pointed out that land managed by the ADM comes under federal jurisdiction.
Since March, Lion Electric has employed 465 people in Saint-Jérôme, where it builds electric buses and city trucks.
The governments of Canada and Quebec have each provided the company with a $50 million forgivable loan to ensure that the new complex opens on time in early 2023, creating 135 jobs. That number could eventually increase to 285.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 3, 2021.
