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General Motors has confirmed plans to build Ventec Life Systems-designed ventilators at an Indiana factory that currently manufactures electronic car components.
(GM)
The VOCSN is a portable critical care ventilator with a 9-hour battery life, according to Ventec.
The companies said that work to get the plant ready has already started and that it is being set up to produce ventilators at a rate of 10,000 per month with the capability to expand that number in the future, if necessary.
(GM)
”GM is in the position to help build more ventilators because of the remarkable performance of GM and Ventec’s global supply base,” CEO Mary Barra said in a media release that added GM is donating its resources to Ventec at cost.
President Trump tweeted on Friday that discussions to purchase ventilators from GM was not working out and urged GM and Ford to “START MAKING VENTILATORS, NOW!!!!!!”
GM has recalled 1,000 employees to the Kokomo, Ind, facility which has been idled along with the rest of its North American operations as a measure to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. A date for a wider resumption of operations has not been announced.
The automaker is also converting part of its Warren, Mich., transmission factory to produce transparent protective masks for first responders and health care professionals, which it said it will be able to do at the rate of 50,000 per day within two weeks.
