CONCORD, N.C. — General Motors broke ground Thursday, June 3 on the new Charlotte Technical Center, a 130,000-square-foot facility that will expand GM’s performance and racing capabilities.
According to a news release, the center will accelerate strategic knowledge transfer between motorsports and production vehicle development.
The facility is a $45 million investment for GM and is scheduled to open in early 2022.
“After more than a year of unprecedented challenges for everyone, we reevaluated our plans and found we could expand the footprint and scope for the Charlotte Technical Center to make it an even greater resource,” Jim Campbell, GM U.S. vice president of Performance and Motorsports, said. “This new location and larger facility is a clean-sheet design, tailored for technology development and collaboration with our racing teams and technical partners.”
The center’s location, in the heart of one of the nation’s racing hubs and near colleges and universities, will provide more opportunities for GM to recruit top talent in the fields of software engineering, computational science, electrical engineering and other technical skill sets.
Additionally, the new center will bring in jobs for the automotive-minded; a spokesperson for Chevrolet Racing says there will be 100 jobs offered, including some directly reporting to GM. Local race team partners will also work out of the center.
“The new Charlotte Technical Center will expand GM’s engineering footprint in the epicenter of racing in the United States, and will improve our engineering speed and capability in both the racing and production environments,” said Jim Danahy, GM vice president of Global Safety, Systems and Integration. “It will be a strong hub for the racing and production engineering teams to collaborate, share resources and learn together, delivering better results more quickly both on the racetrack and in our production vehicles.”
Off the Clock with Carboni is a weekly, in-depth, inside look at Charlotte sports, including the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, and more, hosted by WCNC Sports Director Nick Carboni.
SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts || Spotify || Stitcher || TuneIn (coming soon) || Google Podcasts
All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.
