“The new Opel Grandland is ‘made in Germany’ through and through. It will exclusively drive off the production line in Eisenach. To this end, over the past few months we have developed the location into a real ‘electric plant’ – with a battery shop and a production facility in which our top SUV is fully flexible in all drive variants on a common line. The new Grandland will be fully electric for the first time and will further broaden our range of electric cars. We are giving the starting signal for this here and today,” said Opel CEO Florian Huettl to the journalists.
Eisenach plant managing director Jörg Escher added: “The Eisenach team took on the great challenge of automotive transformation together and implemented it with outstanding commitment. I would like to thank all employees for their tireless dedication and great performance. And I am sure that the new Grandland will also come to customers in the well-known Eisenach top quality right from the start.”
Investments in Eisenach: €130 million for transformation to “electric plant”
In addition to hybrid drives, the all-new Opel Grandland will also drive off the production line for the first time as a battery-electric, locally emissions-free Grandland Electric. The new SUV is the first Opel model to be based on the state-of-the-art STLA Medium platform, which was specifically designed for battery-electric models and is now being used in Eisenach. Thanks to the new architecture, particularly flat battery packaging with a battery capacity of up to 98 kWh, a new generation electric motor and other energy-saving features, the new Grandland Electric can travel up to around 700 kilometres locally emissions-free according to WLTP1.
In order to make the Eisenach plant, which has been constantly developing since its inauguration in 1992, fit for future production of electrified models, the company has invested €130 million in the site. This has led to significant changes in production. For example, modifications were carried out in the body shop as well as in final assembly, which make it possible to produce vehicles based on both the multi-energy platform and the STLA Medium platform. In addition, the entire conveyor system was adapted and strengthened, the body shop was fully automated and many state-of-the-art camera systems were installed in the various areas for detailed inspection.
A brand-new battery shop has also been created, where the battery packs for the electric Grandland are assembled on site. Special high-voltage experts were trained for this task. Eisenach was able to draw on the experiences of its colleagues in Rüsselsheim. There is already such a battery shop at Opel’s headquarters, which is part of the production of the Opel Astra Electric and the Opel Astra Sports Tourer Electric.
It fits perfectly with the electric Opel Grandland and its own battery assembly that Eisenach is planning to start building its own solar park to provide electricity this year. Green electricity will then be generated for the plant using photovoltaics on an area of around 14 hectares. In addition to the 20-megawatt photovoltaic park, a 1.5-megawatt heat pump will support the plant’s heat supply in the future. The gradual conversion to renewable energies also helps ensure that the plant is well-positioned for the future.
And in accordance with the company’s strategy to reduce CO2 emissions continuously and consistently in every area, the supply chain at the Thuringian location was also realigned. In the future, the new Opel Grandland will increasingly be transported to customers via the plant’s railway sidings with Deutsche Bahn. Especially long-distance transports, such as those to Turkey and Great Britain, will be carried out by rail.
