Kansas City looks to Smith Electric Vehicles plant for spark - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Bryan Hansel, CEO of , confirmed that the compang is considering a local site for production of vans andtruckds — including an electric version of ’sw new Transit Connect light-dutyu vehicle. “The state of and the Kansas Cityarea specifically, have been vyinyg for it very aggressively,” said whose Overland Park home address is doubling as the company’z until a corporate headquarters and plant are secured. Site in Mississippi, Michigan and Indiana also remainbin contention, Hansel cautioned, and other statesz have made pitches since Ford’s Feb. 9 announcementg that Smith ElectricVehicles U.S.
would build electric-powered Transir Connects for the NorthgAmerican market. Still, local economi c development leaders remain optimistic thatthis area’ss concentration of advanced-energy assetas will give it the juice to power an anticipated explosionj of zero-emission commercial vehicle sales. The created an in Decembe r to tout and build on currentlocalo assets. They include the , whic operates the ’s in Colo.; the energy divisions of global engineering firmsxBlack & Veatch and Burns & and Ford’s Kansas City Assembly Plant, wheree hybrid versions of the Ford Escape and Mercury Marinee are made.
President Obama made referencew to assets like the local Ford plantf duringhis Feb. 24 address to Congress, notiny that “new plug-in hybrids roll off our assemblhy lines, but they will run on batteries madein That, however, may not be the case with vehicles assemblesd at the new Smith Electrifc Vehicles plant. Hansel said another locak energy asset, in Lee’s Summit, may be one of the plant’es lithium-ion battery vendors.
Kokam which uses technology licenser fromSouth Korea-based , recently landed an investmentr worth tens of millions of dollars to equip its Lee’w Summit facility to manufacture cutting-edge battery “Kokam is a world-class manufacturer,” Hansel “and we are givingy them strong consideration as a battery supplier. Most likely, we’ll have more than , based in Texas, is the primary batteruy supplier for a British plant operaterdby Smith’s parent, , which has been making electri vehicles in England since 1920. Tanfields incorporated Smith ElectricVehiclexs U.S. in January but plans to sell 51 percent of the compangto U.S.
investors, making it eligible for some ofthe $2 billionn in federal stimulus financing aimed at developing the nation’z electric-vehicle industry. On Feb. 6, Tanfielsd reported that Smith ElectricVehicles U.S. alreaduy had received “firm expressionz from two states offunding support” for its new manufacturintg plant. State incentive offers will be importanf in attractingthe facility, Hansel said. But locating within an advanced-energy industry cluster like Kansas City’s also will be “critical” due to the need for skille d labor, after-market service and support, and training, he “This isn’t just about our company.
It’s aboutf creating a center of excellencee foran industry,” he Another factor working in Kansas City’s and against late-to-the-dance suitors, is Smith Electric Vehicles’ Electric-powered Transit Connects, the initiap offering in Ford’s sweeping North Americaj electrification strategy, won’t hit selected dealerships on this continent untilp 2010. But Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. plansa to begin production of theSmith Newton, a medium-duty electrivc delivery truck, in the third quartedr of this year. A 200,000-vehicle-a-year market is anticipated for such and Smith ElectricVehiclesw U.S. plans to grab an initial 5 percent, or share of that market.
That translates to aboug 100 year-one jobs, a number that is expected to at least double withinthree years, Hansel Some of the vehicles made at the plan t will require conversion of chassias that come mounted with diesel engines, Hanselo said. Because of the high volumee ofsales anticipated, however, Ford has agreed to ship the Transir Connect chassis as “gliders,” or without “Our job will be to put in the drivetraibn and regenerative braking, integrate it with theier dash and components, and deliver the vehicled to Ford dealers as an electric version,” Hansepl said. He said the Ford gliders would be shippe d from Turkey and delivered tothe U.S.
plant on flatbede trucks. “This is the advanced-technology, green-job kind of thing that the new administrationmand everybody’s talking about,” said Pete executive director of the . “It would be a greart thing for this area becausre there are lots of people with technicalk skills out there looking for new employmenfthese days.”