GM begins construction at electric powertrain facility in Pontiac

General Motors has begun construction of its new powertrain development facility, which will serve as a centralized base for race engine and electric motor engineering at the company’s North American powertrain headquarters.

Approximately 100 engineers and technicians from GM’s race engineering center in Wixom, Michigan, will be relocated to the new 138,000-sq-ft facility in Pontiac. Another 300 workers from other remote locations will also be consolidated on the campus.

The racing-focused team will be sharing the facility with transmission engineers and specialists focused on electric motors and batteries for GM’s next-generation hybrids and EVs.

“The electric motor lab produces prototype electric motors and validates manufacturing processes used in the production of electric and hybrid vehicle motors,” GM notes. “The gear center supports design, manufacturing processes, inspection techniques and testing of gears used primarily in the next generation of GM transmissions”

The construction project is part of a $200 million plan to restructure the powertrain development operations. The company hopes its Performance and Racing Center will be finished and occupied by engineers sometime in mid 2015.