Vicinity Motor Corp. provided a corporate update on the construction of the company's new manufacturing facility in Ferndale, Wash.
As previously announced, the property is located near the company's Aldergrove, B.C., Canadian Headquarters with easy access to port, rail, and truck shipping and receiving facilities. Operations at the facility will include vehicle assembly and upfitting, "Buy America" compliant assembly, pre-delivery inspections, research, and development, as well as general technical work and servicing.
"We are pleased to report the expected procurement and installation of a power solution for our Ferndale facility by year-end — enabling us to secure our certificate of occupancy," said William Trainer, CEO of Vicinity Motor Corp. "The Ferndale facility is exciting as it was built to accommodate both buses and trucks, with a capacity of up to 1,000 buses per year or up to 10,000 trucks at the projected maximum production rate. We are currently in the process of certifying our 4.2-acre campus as a Free Trade Zone, allowing our vehicles to be easily exported to Canada.
"As a reminder to our investors, the Ferndale facility is a significant asset to the company, representing an unencumbered asset valued at over $15 million, plus equipment and additional leasehold improvements — which was paid for from VMC's treasury and owned outright.
"While the electrical switch supply chain challenges have certainly pushed the expected spool-up of production at the new facility into 2023, we are encouraged by our team's solution to advance our timeline and the strong potential to bridge this production gap utilizing our Canadian manufacturing facility,” said Trainer. “We believe that our Aldergrove facility can produce approximately 50 VMC 1,200 units a month as an interim solution to meet our delivery schedule. As we bring Ferndale production online in the first quarter of 2023, we will be well positioned to capture market share and harvest our significant $150 million backlog as of Sept. 30. I look forward to providing our investors with continued updates on our progress in the months ahead as we strive to electrify both government and corporate fleets continent-wide, helping to create value for my fellow shareholders."
