SF Motors has announced that it will open a new R&D facility at the McCarthy Creekside Industrial Center in Milpitas, California.
SF Motors has chosen this latest facility location to push forward its innovative electric powertrain technology, tapping into Silicon Valley’s proximity to top-tier vendors and Silicon Valley talent.
It currently has R&D facilities in Santa Clara, California, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Stuttgart, Germany.
R&D and low-volume manufacturing efforts at the 130,000 square foot facility will be led by Chief Technology Officer Yifan Tang, and will center on SF Motors’ proprietary battery, e-powertrain, and autonomous driving technologies. Anticipated activities include testing verification of its technologies, development of manufacturing processes, trial production and low-volume manufacturing. This Silicon Valley facility will additionally focus on intelligent connectivity and user experience feature development.
“Adding to our existing R&D labs, this new facility will conduct extensive design validation testing and low-volume manufacturing necessary to ensure smooth transition to mass production of our batteries and electric powertrains, which are key components of our vehicles,” said SF Motors CTO Yifan Tang. “Drawing on our global business model and decades of manufacturing experience, locating this facility near our Silicon Valley headquarters will strategically ensure quality and efficiency as we prepare to bring our intelligent EVs to market.”
SF Motors will be the first tenant at McCarthy Creekside, McCarthy Ranch’s new Silicon Valley industrial manufacturing development. Engineering and manufacturing jobs will be added for this new facility when it becomes operational in Q4 of 2018.
“We have high standards for the companies we recruit to McCarthy Creekside, and we know that leading-edge companies like SF Motors have high standards in where they choose to locate,” said McCarthy Ranch Principal, Joey McCarthy. “As SF Motors continues to attract top talent across the EV and tech sectors, the company is clearly putting its people first. This site will not only satisfy its local R&D needs, but also offer employees adjacent retail and outdoor amenities.”
Last month, SF Motors previewed its first intelligent electric vehicles, battery innovations, electric powertrain systems and “protective autonomy” concepts. After two years of assembling the manufacturing capabilities required, SF Motors will begin trial production of vehicles this year at its state-of-the-art facilities in Mishawaka, Indiana and Chongqing, China, targeting a total capacity of 200,000 units per year.
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