Greenmot equips its factory to produce retrofit kits
Launched in January 2021 after obtaining public funding operated by ADEME, the Green-eBus project successfully passed the first R&D milestone in front of representatives of the government, ADEME, the Auvergne-Rhône- Alpes and the CARA competitiveness cluster. The bus has completed its first wheel turns with its electric motor and traveled its first kilometres. It responds perfectly to driving constraints, ascents and untimely stops included.
Buoyed by this success, Greenmot has initiated, in parallel, the second part of its retrofit development plan: the deployment of a 2,600 m2 which will house the production of retrofit kits. This establishment will upgrade former industrial premises in Villefranche-sur-Saône, where textile jobs had disappeared 20 years ago. To support this operation, Greenmot hired Eric Pairin, specialist in industrialization, now Director of Industrial Operations. Former production manager at PSA and plant manager at Mecachrome, he explains his motivations:
“I embarked on this new mission because it has two major interests for me: anchoring in a vital societal subject, energy transformation, and the objective of redeveloping an industrial activity on the ground in Calado, with the highest safety standards. , ergonomics and quality. It is extremely stimulating! »
It presents its objectives: “The plant will be operational in 2023 with several assembly lines. We want to integrate into the process both robotics, with industry 4.0 machines, and value-added personnel, on all types of profiles, able-bodied as well as disabled, because inclusion is one of the strong values at Greenmot.
As soon as the factory is equipped, around fifty kits can be produced in pre-series during the first year. The ramp-up, associated with new hires, will take place from 2024 with the supply of at least 1 complete kit/day. The skills implemented will apply to electric retrofit kits as well as hydrogen retrofit kits, for buses, coaches or other heavy vehicles. The product kits can then be installed in the vehicles either directly by the operators’ trained teams, or by approved partners locally or elsewhere.
“We are at a turning point for Greenmot, a test center dedicated to vehicle players, which will complement its historical activity by actively participating in the energy transition. This new industrial activity will allow us to offer pragmatic zero-emission retrofit solutions for the world of mobility around industrial vehicles.”says Stéphane Londos, the founding President “and this tipping point that will accentuate our growth has been identified”. The development of this factory and the industrialization of the retrofit kit are supported within the framework of France Relance among the 19 productive investment projects supported in the Territories of Industry (March 2021) as well as by the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region.
Identifying the possible sources of improvement of a vehicle in order to reduce its consumption is the job of Greenmot
Greenmot is a test center and design office for all types of motorized vehicles, from automobiles to special military vehicles. Since its creation, the company has designed its own test cells and tools and today offers four climatic test cells of different sizes.
The company’s strategy is structured around three areas that work in synergy:
- The Testing division: which designs and carries out tests on the basis of customer specifications (driving tests, consumption, pollution, transmission development, vehicle comparison, others) and carries out premium vehicle test instrumentation
- The Engineering division: which designs, assembles and installs climatic cells and test benches at customers’ sites, organizes technology transfer to respond to changes in vehicle energy, designs and manufactures specific products linked to tests: sensors for measuring torque and high precision driving robot for example.
- The Manufacturing division, in charge of developing vehicle retrofit and high-power battery solutions
The company now has more than sixty employees spread over two test centers in Villefranche-sur-Saône (69).
Greenmot press release.
