VANCOUVER, BC—ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp. plans to build an assembly plant in Mesa, AZ, to produce its Solo electric car. The facility will be capable of producing up to 20,000 EVs annually.
In addition to an assembly line, the state-of-the-art building will include an engineering technical center, plus chassis, battery pack and power electronics testing workshops.
The Solo is a three-wheeled vehicle designed for use in urban environments. Engineered for a single occupant, it has a range of 100 miles and a top speed of 80 mph.
Arizona is becoming a popular spot for EV manufacturing. Mesa, a suburb or Phoenix, is already home to Atlis Motor Vehicles Inc., while Lucid Motors Inc. recently opened a new factory nearby in Casa Grande. In addition, Nikola Corp. is building an assembly plant in Coolidge to mass-produce fuel cell-powered trucks.
All of that EV activity in the Grand Canyon state is starting to attract attention from automotive suppliers. For instance, UACJ Automotive Whitehall Industries Inc., a Ludington, MI-based supplier of extruded aluminum components, recently announced plans to set up a factory in a former Walgreens distribution center in Flagstaff, AZ.
