Electric Vehicles International (EVI) plans to upgrade is primary U.S. manufacturing facility with a $3.9 million grant it recently received from the California Energy Commission (CEC). The company said modernizing its electric vehicle (EV) production factory will ultimately help lower production costs and that will help get more EVs on the roads of California as well as nationwide.

“This grant is intended to help EVI modernize and transform the medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle manufacturing industry, making clean, electric vehicles more accessible and affordable, and facilitating a widespread transition from diesel engines to zero-emission vehicles to meet California’s progressive economic and environmental goals,” said CEC spokesman Jim Boyd.

“This investment further supports our decision to relocate our headquarters and main manufacturing operations from Toluca, Mexico to Stockton two years ago,” noted Ricky Hanna, EVI president & CEO.

One of EVI's primary products is an all-electric walk-in van chassis. Its GVWRs range from Class 4 to Class 6 and its engine boasts a top speed of 60 mph.