Silence plans to start manufacturing cars at its Zona Franca plant in early 2023. "We are already working on the facilities and I believe that next month we will start testing car assembly so that by early next year we can already have cars coming off the Silence production line in the Zona Franca," explained the CEO and founder of Silence, Carlos Sotelo, to ACN. As he recalled, in July they began working on the 60,000 square meters they have in the Zona Franca.
Silence's goal, an Acciona subsidiary, is to use its new facilities in Barcelona to mass-produce a small electric vehicle with batteries. As of today, the brand already manufactures rechargeable motorcycles at its Sant Boi de Llobregat plant.
The company requested in July to be able to set up in a small part of Nissan's former facilities in Barcelona's Zona Franca after the continuous delays in the reindustrialization process of the factory, which began two years ago.
Thus, the electric motorcycle and car company is not participating in the tender to find a logistics operator to take over the old factory and lease it to a manufacturer, which is still underway with a single candidate: the decarbonization hub led by QEV.
First battery swap station for electric vehicles
Hand in hand with Cepsa, Silence inaugurated this Thursday the first electric battery swap point for cars and motorcycles at a gas station, located on Comte d'Urgell street, where one only needs to pick up the removable batteries used by Silence vehicles. According to Cepsa's Head of New Mobility, Isabel Gorgoso, the system is very simple to use and install, in addition to requiring little power, a fact that will allow it to be replicated in more stations.
Specifically, the plan contemplates the initial development of ten swap stations at other Cepsa stations, five in the Catalan capital and five more in Madrid, over the next few months. In Barcelona, Silence already has three battery swap locations, one of them at its main headquarters, on Córcega street.