The Biden administration has outlined its American Jobs Plan, and Lion Electric applauds its prioritization of climate-related initiatives. In fact, we believe we will be best-positioned to answer the call!
As a North American leader in zero-emission school buses, we believe we are capable of playing a major role in realizing the administration’s hopes to electrify 20% of the US school bus fleet through the EPA’s Clean Buses for Kids Program. Electrifying one-in-five school buses is an impressive goal, and we believe it is one that the industry can meet. We also believe that the entire school US school bus fleet can be electrified in the medium-term, to the benefit school districts, as a result of low operating costs, and the health of local communities in which they operate. Similarly, the plan’s aim to replace 50,000 diesel transit buses with electric models is a commendable goal and a step in what we believe is the right direction for the environment.
Lion stands ready to face the challenge. We have knowledge and expertise to do so thanks to our experience gained with over 300 vehicles on the road today, which have collectively driven over 6 million miles. Our production capacity is poised to scale soon as well with the planned opening of our US manufacturing plant in 2023, which we expect will have a capacity of up to 20,000 vehicles per year and result in over 1,400 new clean energy jobs – jobs that will be in high demand in the clean economy of the future. The impacts to the US economy don’t end there, and, as we continue to grow out our supply chain in the U.S. with local partners, thousands more secondary jobs are expected to follow.