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FLO’s CoRe+ MAX electric vehicle charger in action. (Courtesy FLO)
Electric vehicle (EV) charging company FLO has opened its first U.S. EV assembly facility in Auburn Hills, Mich., which is expected to bring 250,000 EV chargers to American drivers and create 730 jobs by 2028.
“There is no better location for FLO to plant roots in the U.S. than Michigan – the birthplace of the American auto industry,” Louis Tremblay, FLO’s president and CEO said in a statement on the facility.
“Michigan has created a clear roadmap for success for EV charging companies like FLO, providing funding and launching initiatives aimed at expanding charging access and accelerating EV adoption. We look forward to building the efficient, reliable, and safe charging network of tomorrow, right here in Michigan,” he added.
Production at the facility will begin later this year.
FLO, the largest EV charging network in Canada, is headquartered in Quebec City. It was founded in 2009 as a subsidiary of AddÉnergie Technologies Inc. It has installed over 70,000 fast and level 2 EV charging stations in public, private and residential locations across North America. The chargers are assembled in Shawnigan, Que. and now Michigan. It also has offices in Montreal, Vancouver and Sacramento, Calif.
The Auburn Hills facility
The facility will include a testing lab to build chargers designed for compatibility with new and incoming EV models.
A June economic report from BW Research based in Carlsbad, Calif. estimates the facility will generate $51.7 million in labor income from the construction and operations of the facility. It is also expected to generate $134 million in revenue from sales of EV chargers and $76 million in gross state product in Michigan by 2028.
Total operating costs of the facility will begin at approximately $1.1 million in 2023, growing to $12.5 million by 2028.
FLO said the facility will bring a total of 730 direct, indirect, and induced jobs by 2028. In 2023 alone, it is expected to create 133 jobs.
“GM is working toward an all-electric future, which requires accessible and reliable charging infrastructure. We appreciate FLO’s collaboration with us to make charging access more widespread,” Hoss Hassani, the vice president of EV ecosystem at GM, said in a statement on the facility.
“Their new Auburn Hills facility will strengthen this collaboration as we work to help build a North American EV charging supply chain and put everyone in an EV.”
Sales from the facility will occur across the U.S., with the report referring to Auburn Hills as FLO’s “manufacturing foothold.”
BloombergNEF’s 2021 electric vehicle outlook report states that for a net-zero transition, the required number of chargers worldwide needs to increase to 504 million connectors by 2040 and 722 million connectors by 2050.
In March, SustainableBiz reported on FLO unveiling the CoRe+ MAX Level-2 charger — the most powerful in the North American market, charging vehicles up to 2.7 times faster than existing systems. In September, the company installed its 100th EV charger in New York City, as part of a pilot program that began in June 2021.
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