World's largest diesel engine factory shifts production to electric

The world's biggest diesel engine factory, located in Tremery, France, is shifting its a significant proportion of its massive production scale to make electric motors.

The factory has set ambitious goals to double its electric motor output for this year to a little under 20% of its total output - with a goal of creating 180,000 motors for 2021.

Read more: Shell to buy UK's largest EV charging operator

Plant heads have set themselves a goal of 900,000 motors annually by 2025, representing more than half of the plant's pre-pandemic peak.

This marks a shift the entire automotive industry has seen in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic to electronic models as governments and the private sector alike scramble to meet climate and emissions goals and to make the energy transition as quickly as possible.

There have been concerns raised over the effect the transition will have on jobs, owing to electric motors being made of fewer parts than their diesel cousins.

Stellantis, the result of a recent merger between Fiat Crysler and PSA and the owner of the Tremery facility, has confirmed it will not cut any jobs at the factory.

However, the automotive sector has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, which has resulted in companies suffering losses attributed to several factors, from reduced travel to lower demand for fuel.

China is currently the world's largest EV market, with new electric vehicles expected to operate a 50% market share by 2035.

Read more: NEV sales to account for 25% of China's automarket by 2025

China has recently set itself the goal of becoming completely carbon-neutral by 2060, clocking in several years after many other nations, who have set goals between 2040 and 2050, sparking backlash from countries such as the US.

However, some research has suggested the electric and hybrid vehicles market in Europe is "almost equal" with China. However, it is unknown whether it will be able to keep up with the trajectory forecast for the Chinese market.

At least 20 models are expected to no longer offer diesel alternatives in 2021, including the Honda Civic, VW Polo and Nissan Micra. This is set to mark a shift on the continent where diesel sales currently make up 50% of vehicles sales.

However, a global semiconductor shortage may hinder many companies' lofty goals for a transition for the next year or so, with many chip producers saving their stocks for electric vehicles.

As a result, a number of key automakers have had to scale down production until the chip shortage is averted.

Read more: VW looks to claim damages over semiconductor shortage

In September, EU registrations of electric vehicles overtook diesel for the first time in history. Overall electric vehicle sales across the bloc trebled in 2020 when compared with 2019.

However, they still only accounted for less than one-in-ten vehicle sales for the year, but this number is expected to increase throughout the decade.

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