Former GM plant set to make electric cars

GM 2012: Future cars

General Motors recently showed reporters and select members of the public what it plans to build over the next two years.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Electric carmaker Fisker Automotive said Tuesday it is buying an old General Motors plant in Wilmington, Del., and plans on making up to 100,000 vehicles a year at the recently shuttered facility.

"This is a major step toward establishing America as a leader of advanced vehicle technology," Henrik Fisker, Fisker's chief executive, said in a statement. "Wilmington is perfect for high quality, low volume production and will soon be the proud builder of world-class, fuel-efficient Fisker plug-in hybrids."

Until July, the plant had employed over 1,000 workers making Pontiac, Saturn and Opel sports cars for General Motors. GM closed the facility as part of its corporate restructuring.

Fisker says its new plant will employ 2,000 factory workers and support another 3,000 vendor jobs by 2014. Production is set to begin in 2012.

"It gives me great pride to give UAW Local 435 workers the opportunity to partner with Fisker Automotive to create a greener America by building a plug-in hybrid car that will compete globally," Gary Casteel, a United Autoworkers union official at the plant, said in a statement.

The company said the plant "was selected for its size, production capacity, world-class paint facilities, access to shipping ports, rail lines and available skilled workforce."

Fisker, based in Irvine, Calif., plans on building a family-oriented plug-in electric vehicle at the facility. Dubbed Project NINA, the car is expected to cost around $40,000 after a $7,500 tax rebate. Fisker did not give any other details on the planned car.

The company unveiled a luxury sports sedan called the Karma earlier this year. That vehicle has a range of 50 miles on all-electric power. An on-board 2.0 liter combustion engine kicks in to charge the battery, giving the car a total range of 300 miles. The Karma has a top speed of 125 miles per hour, and a price tag of around $80,000. It can potentially use as little as 10 gallons of fuel a year, according to the company.

Fisker bought the GM plant for $18 million and plans on spending an additional $175 million retooling the facility.

The electric car manufacturer recently received a $528 million loan from the Department of Energy as part of a $25 billion government program to spur advanced vehicle manufacturing in the U.S.