The site is also perfectly situated to take advantage of the strong automotive supply base within the region, the company added.

New Delhi: Switch Mobility Ltd (Switch), the EV spin off of Ashok Leyland, on Thursday confirmed that its new manufacturing and technology centre will be built on a greenfield site in the Soto de Medinilla area of Valladolid in Spain.

The 140,000m2 site, situated within convenient access of the centre of Valladolid, has been selected from a number of suitable locations within the Castilla y Leon Region, the company said in a release. 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 Research and Development.

The site is also perfectly situated to take advantage of the strong automotive supply base within the region, the company added.

With construction due to commence shortly, Switch Executive Vice Chairman and CEO, Andy Palmer, was joined by Eva Driessen, President of Switch Iberia and members of the Executive Team, to plant several trees on site to celebrate the announcement.

According to the company, these are the first of 2,000 trees Switch will plant in Spain over the coming year – one for every direct job it expects to create at the new manufacturing and technology centre – in support of the company's commitment to sustainability. The new facility will be entirely carbon neutral throughout the construction process and continue to operate at a carbon neutral level during vehicle production.

"We are delighted to have selected Valladolid as the location for our first manufacturing site in continental Europe. 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 Medinilla area the perfect location. This new facility will provide us with crucial access to the European bus and light commercial vehicle market," Palmer said.

"Since announcing our plans to invest in Castilla y León, we have been overwhelmed by the level of interest in the project and I would like to thank Reyes Maroto Illera, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, Oscar Puente and their respective teams, who have worked tirelessly to secure this site for Switch. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, which have resulted in the ground-breaking ceremony being postponed until March 18th, we look forward to commencing construction imminently and seeing our first buses in production within the next 12 months, he added.

Switch's new manufacturing and technical centre will house production of its first electric bus designed specifically for the European market. The new 12 meter product will build on the technology that has seen Switch become a global leader in electric buses since delivering the first British built, electric buses to Transport for London in 2014.

Utilising the latest NMC battery technology, Switch's bespoke data analytics systems and lightweight construction methodology, the new product will optimize the Total Cost of Ownership for local authorities and operators, enabling the decarbonisation of cities and key routes across Europe. Further details on Switch's new state of the art electric bus will be announced early in the second quarter of 2022, the company said.

Courtesy: Mint, ET Auto, Mobility Outlook, Automotive World, MSN.