Lion Electric has provided U.S. lawmakers an early look at its emerging electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Joliet, Illinois, which will begin producing all-electric school buses by the end of the year.

Guests at the Aug. 11 event included U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Bill Foster, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk and others.

“In recent days Congress has worked to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing Americans today – from energy bills and climate change to supply chain constraints and polluted air – and we have made historic progress,” Durbin said. “The Inflation Reduction Act makes key investments in American energy to both address climate change and bring down energy bills and would create new good-paying clean energy jobs in Illinois.”

The Act also expanded to support investments in zero-emission vehicles made across North America, rather than those made in the U.S. alone.

“Here in Illinois, we are making our mark in the clean energy revolution,” Pritzker added. “Lion Electric, with its largest national footprint in Will County, is one of the companies at the forefront. Together, we are creating new jobs—and building a cleaner, more sustainable state, nation, and world.”

Lion Electric is also building a battery manufacturing plant in Mirabel, Que., scheduled to open in 2023. Once completed, it will annually be able to produce 5 gigawatt-hours of battery storage – enough to support 14,000 medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.