McGuinty Gov’t & Magna Int. to Develop Electric Vehicle Technologies

The Ontario Liberal Government is joining Magna International Inc. and Magna E-Car to develop the next generation of clean vehicle technologies.

Magna International is spending $430 million to research and develop electric vehicle technology in the province, and the Ontario government will invest $48 million towards 19 research and development projects over the next six years. This funding will create more than 700 jobs and protect another 1,337 jobs at Magna’s Aurora, Brampton, Concord and St. Thomas plants.

According to the announcement today by Magna and Economic Development Minister Sandra Pupatello, the projects will include developing concept electric cars, hybrid vehicles parts, advanced lightweight metallic components, alternative energy, and methods to improve fuel efficiency.

“What powers our cars is changing, the pieces that go into making a vehicle are changing. The good news is that that change is happening here at Magna,” said Minister Pupatello. “That, my friends, is a huge vote of confidence in the Ontario economy.”

The McGuinty government has been a steadfast supporter for the development and production of more environmentally friendly vehicles and has provided a number of related grants to the automotive industry.

Earlier in August, Toyota pledged that the RAV4 sport utility vehicle’s hybrid version will be manufactured in Woodstock, Ontario and a $2-million provincial grant to the Dana Holding Corp. will go towards the development of heat exchangers for batteries at a Cambridge, Ontario plant.

Magna International is based in Aurora, Ontario and is the largest automotive supplier in North America and Ontario’s leader in automotive R&D, employing 17,900 workers in Ontario at 44 plants across the province.

McGuinty Liberals have proposed a goal of having one out of every twenty cars in Ontario electrically powered by 2020. It has initiated the widespread availability of electric car charging stations and provides incentives to Ontarians of between $5,000 to $8,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle. New electric plug-in models include the Chevrolet Volt (pictured above) and the Nissan Leaf.

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Photo source: Wikimedia Commons

Tags: Chevrolet Volt, Government, green technology, Magna International, Nissan Leaf

Category: Featured, Technology