Switch Mobility, the electric bus and light commercial vehicle company, said its new manufacturing and technology centre would be built on a greenfield site in the Soto de Medinilla area of Valladolid.
The 140,000m2 site was selected from a number of suitable locations within the Castilla y Leon Region. The location benefits from strong infrastructure links by road and will enable Switch to develop the facility in several phases, starting with bus production and R&D. The site is also perfectly situated to take advantage of the strong automotive supply base within the region – Renault has a plant in the city.
Andy Palmer, CEO, said: “The region’s wealth of quality engineers and strong supply chain, combined with Spain’s desire to be a leader in electric buses, make the Soto De Medinella area the perfect location. This new facility will provide us with crucial access to the European bus and light commercial vehicle market.
“Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, which have resulted in the groundbreaking ceremony being postponed until 18 March, we look forward to commencing construction imminently and seeing our first buses in production within the next 12 months.”
The centre will house production of the first Switch electric bus designed specifically for the European market. The new 12 metre product will build on the technology used for the first British built, electric buses delivered to Transport for London in 2014.
It will use the latest NMC battery technology, Switch’s bespoke data analytics systems and lightweight construction methodology.