(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Illinois is getting into the electric vehicle business in a big way.
On Friday, a variety of officials were on hand for the grand opening of a southwest suburban plant that makes electric school buses and commercial trucks.
Lion Electric’s 900,000-square-foot plant in Joliet will help create a green economy, company CEO and founder Marc Bedard said.
“At full scale, this plant will have a manufacturing capacity of about 20,000 units a year, and it’s a mix of electric buses and electric trucks,” he said.
Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy is excited that the plant will bring about 1,400 jobs to Will County. Other officials touted the impact that electric buses would have on the environment.
“Traditional school buses emit toxic pollutants into the air -- not only harmful to the environment but also harmful to the health and well-being of the students they transport,” Debra Shore, the U.S. EPA’s Region 5 director, said.
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