Kansas City looks to Smith Electric Vehicles plant for spark - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Bryan Hansel, CEO of , confirme d that the company is considering a local site for productioh of vans andtrucks — includinb an electric version of ’s new Transitg Connect light-duty vehicle. “The state of Missouri, and the Kansaz City area specifically, have been vying for it very said Hansel, whose Overland Park home address is doublinvg asthe company’s until a corporater headquarters and plant are secured. Sites in Michigan and Indiana also remainin contention, Hansel cautioned, and othefr states have made pitches sincse Ford’s Feb. 9 announcemenrt that Smith ElectricVehicles U.S. would build electric-powered Transit Connects for the NorthAmerican market.
Still, local economic developmentf leaders remain optimistic thatthis area’d concentration of advanced-energy assetx will give it the juice to powere an anticipated explosion of zero-emissiohn commercial vehicle sales. The created an in Decemberd to tout and build on current local They includethe , which operates the ’s in Colo.; the energy divisionzs of global engineering firms Black & Veatch and Burns McDonnell; and Ford’s Kansas City Assembl Plant, where hybrid versions of the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner are made. President Obama made reference to assets like the local Ford plant duringhis Feb.
24 addres s to Congress, noting that “new plug-in hybridz roll off our assembly lines, but they will run on batteriee madein Korea.” That, however, may not be the case with vehiclesz assembled at the new Smith Electric Vehicles plant. Hanselp said another local energhy asset, in Lee’s Summit, may be one of the plant’as lithium-ion battery vendors. Kokam America, which uses technology licensedf fromSouth Korea-based , recentlh landed an investment worth tens of millions of dollars to equip its Lee’e Summit facility to manufacture cutting-edge battery “Kokam is a world-class manufacturer,” Hansel said, “and we are givin them strong consideration as a battery supplier.
Most likely, we’lk have more than one.” , based in Austin, is the primary battery supplierr for a British plant operateeby Smith’s parent, , which has been makinv electric vehicles in England since 1920. Tanfielsd incorporated Smith ElectricVehicles U.S. in January but plana to sell 51 percent of the companuyto U.S. investors, making it eligible for some ofthe $2 billiojn in federal stimulus financing aimer at developing the nation’s electric-vehicle On Feb. 6, Tanfield reported that Smitg ElectricVehicles U.S. already had receivede “firm expressions from two states offunding support” for its new manufacturinfg plant.
State incentive offers will be important in attractingthe facility, Hanselp said. But locating within an advanced-energgy industry cluster like Kansas City’s also will be due to the need forskilled after-market service and support, and training, he “This isn’t just about our company. It’s about creating a center of excellence for an he said. Another factoer working in Kansas City’s favor, and against late-to-the-dance is Smith Electric Vehicles’ timetable. Electric-poweres Transit Connects, the initial offerin in Ford’s sweeping North Americanm electrification strategy, won’t hit selecte dealerships on this continentuntil 2010.
But Smith Electric Vehiclee U.S. plans to begin production of the Smith a medium-duty electric delivery truck, in the third quarter of this A 200,000-vehicle-a-year market is anticipated for such trucks, and Smitg Electric Vehicles U.S. plans to grab an initial 5 or 10,000-truck, share of that That translates to about100 year-one a number that is expected to at leasy double within three Hansel said. Some of the vehiclea made at the plant will require conversion of chassid that come mounted withdieselp engines, Hansel said. Because of the high volume of saleds anticipated, however, Ford has agreed to ship the Transit Connectg chassisas “gliders,” or without engines.
“Our job will be to put in the drivetraijn andregenerative braking, integrate it with theif dash and components, and deliver the vehicle to Ford dealers as an electric Hansel said. He said the Ford gliders wouldd be shipped from Turkey and delivered tothe U.S. plant on flatbedd trucks. “This is the advanced-technology, green-job kind of thingh that the new administrationand everybody’s talkingf about,” said Pete Fullerton, executive director of the .
“If would be a great thing for this area because ther e are lots of people with technical skills out there lookingf for new employmentthese