The electric vehicle revolution is not yet underway. From where Kenny Anderson sits, it’s already breaking ground.
“You can’t stop it,” said Anderson, advanced manufacturing operations leader at DPR Construction, a builder focused on factories like the giant battery factory that will power change across this industry. I was. “Every few weeks there’s a new multi-billion dollar facility being built. It’s not something we see every day.”
To make electric cars more affordable, last year’s inflation cut bill included tax credits that would give American automakers such as General Motors and Tesla an advantage over foreign competitors. A total of $135 billion in government funding will go to vehicle electrification and new factories.
As automakers accelerate their transition to electric vehicles, they will also need new facilities, such as design and development sites. However, the industry faces challenges such as rising material costs.
Klaus Stricker, Co-Head of Automotive at consulting firm Bain & Company, said: “We currently see the industry facing considerable pressure over the next two years.”
A surge in demand led to a record $128 billion in investment in EV manufacturing and battery factories last year, which requires a large footprint. The battery factory can cover 4.5 million square feet, the equivalent of 25 Walmart Supercenters. predict suggests that countries may need more than 120 additional such plants.
Before we can build those batteries and the cars that use them, we need to conceptualize them. That’s why automakers are pouring money into research and development facilities.
Where industrial design, research, and software engineering teams can work side-by-side, these spaces are often configured to allow vehicles to roll inside and exhaust the exhaust from older internal-combustion engines that run indoors. there is a door. They are part of a new generation innovation center. Advanced manufacturing across the United States.
“The speed of change is very fast,” says Deb Donley, founder and chief experience officer of Vocon, a company that designs manufacturing and workspaces for the automotive industry.
The list of such projects is growing. GM opened millions of dollars Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center This winter on the Romulus, Michigan campus, GM Design West, an extension of the campus featuring open design concepts for engineers, will open in late 2023. new design center In Pasadena, California, Ford Motor Company is building a $100 million battery research and development center called Ion Park in Romulus, Michigan, and the Ford Atlanta Research and Innovation Center opened in October. , leverages local talent to fill software and technical positions.
During the boom of the mid-20th century, automotive design centers pursued the chrome future rationally and seriously. Designed by Eero Saarinen, his GM’s first technical center in Warren opened in 1956, rave reviews It has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Dubbed “Industrial Versailles,” the building serves as the template for his campus, an office for aspiring companies.
Today’s automakers see similar value in creating spaces for creativity and collaboration. For Ford, these investments aren’t just for its employees. The auto giant also spends a lot of money on its 30-acre innovation hub in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood of Michigan. (Estimates for 2018, when the project was announced, Cost at least $738 million.)
Backers hope to attract an ecosystem of companies focused on technology and mobility solutions when the Michigan Central office and makerspace opens this year. Detroit city is Transportation Innovation Zone Help startups test ideas in the district.
“Increasingly, the physical hardware and software space is blurring,” said Joshua Sirefman, CEO of Michigan Central. “For us, that means having a space where a team of software engineers can work and have the vehicle they are testing at the same time.”
Automakers spend more on research and development than any other industry, accounting for about $1,500 in the cost of a new vehicle, according to a report by the American Council on Automotive Policy, an industry group. It will also be costly over the next decade as autonomous driving, electrification and mobility services continue to reshape the industry.
This costly transition, and the need for new offices and infrastructure, comes during a difficult economic time. Battery prices began to rise for the first time, and stubborn inflation undermined the high profit margins automakers enjoyed during the pandemic, when short supply meant excess profits.
The switch to EVs also presents design challenges for engineers rethinking vehicles. For example, much of the space dedicated to the engine and powertrain tunnel inside the car is repurposed to create new possibilities for flexible interiors.
Many automakers are testing seats that can rotate more than 180 degrees, as well as spaces that can hold meetings while commuting, said PwC strategist Christian Volz. He believes auto companies need to acquire more software capabilities. This will play a bigger role in vehicle operations and design.
Global investment in these new design centers “is certainly in the billions,” Folz said.
In the Bay Area, where automotive startups such as Rivian, Lucid Motors, Cruise and Waymo are vying for talent, developer Spear Street Capital is building a new kind of office for them.
The San Francisco building, a former showroom now known as 300 Kansas, was built to attract tech companies working on new automotive software and self-driving cars. The facility, which is set to open this summer, is set at the base of Potrero Hill (high enough to run prototype vehicles on all three floors of the building) and is designed to accommodate heavy vehicles and equipment. boasts more electrical capacity and structural support to handle
“In a complex problem like self-driving cars, talented people are absolutely essential,” said Rajiv Patel, president of Spear Street. “A charming space makes it feel like someone is doing something very important.”
The country’s largest automaker is also investing heavily in creating a modern, digitally-focused workspace that it believes can attract and retain a more collaborative workforce.
GM Chief Technology Officer Kent Helfrich said: “In our development, we created hundreds of prototypes.
Ford hired Norwegian architecture firm Snohetta to redesign its 300-acre flagship campus in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford and Snohetta were tight-lipped about the details. It aims to break down the barriers of institutions that were once siled.
The campus features automated shuttles, manicured lawns with native plants, and sprawling curvilinear office buildings that Snohetta founding partner and architect Craig Dykers has compared to “organic machines.” . In today’s workplace, employees sometimes have to hop in their cars and drive across campus to meet their colleagues.
“This is a collaborative research and design institution, a very special kind of workplace,” says Dykers.
GM Helfrich sees the old space being replaced, which he calls the “Monument Laboratory.” For example, at his company Wallace His Battery Center, which has engineering and design talent in the same facility, iterates prototypes of new batteries.
And this shift will not stop. Industry professionals expect constant evolution. This means that your design and development space can always change direction.
“The market can teach us something. Technology can teach us something. .
