The American energy solutions company Citizens will invest 250 million dollars to build a plant for last-mile electric vehicles in Puebla. The complex will have four assembly lines with the capacity to produce 1,400 units per year. In a first phase, it will generate 400 direct jobs and around 1,600 indirect jobs.
The plant will start with the production of two models: a 6.5 meter long van with a capacity for 24 passengers and another cargo vehicle similar in size. Both will be marketed in the country under the Link brand.
Sergio de la Vega, general director of the brand in Mexico, explained in an interview that the units are designed for urban transfers, that is, to travel short distances in traffic conditions that allow the constant regeneration of energy. They will have a range of between 200 and 300 kilometers per charge depending on the needs of customers.
The vehicles are a development of the Chinese company EV Dynamics and their mechanics will be adapted to the particularities of each market. Initially, the units produced in Puebla will cover the local demand and later the export demand.
“The idea is to enter the nearby markets in the medium term, especially the northern part of South America, such as Ecuador and Colombia, as well as the Caribbean. Once we are consolidated in the region, we plan to enter the North American market,” said de la Vega, who pointed out that this last phase of the project will require an expansion of capacity. “The United States and Canada are markets that, due to their size, demand very large volumes.”
The new plant is the second in the entity dedicated to the production of last-mile vehicles. The other belongs to the Mexican brand Zacua, which last year turned towards delivery vehicles, in the midst of the boom that registered the delivery of products at home.
local content
De la Vega explained that one of the reasons that prompted the company to install the project in Puebla is the entity’s supplier base, since the expectation is that the vehicles have a high content of local components.
“An important part of brakes and suspension is of national content. The chassis and bodywork are also made in Mexico… The project is going to have phases and we hope that in the future we will only import the powertrain from China, that is, the battery, the electric motor and the control systems,” he added.
Link has already had meetings with potential clients in Mexico. “We did not expect that they would have such an immediate interest in ordering. I would have thought that this transition would take more time and effort, but we have found ourselves with a market that is more open to new technologies”, de la Vega concluded.
