General Motors will build its first major electric motor plant near Baltimore in Maryland, which will be the first of its kind to manufacture critical components for vehicle electrification. It is scheduled to open in 2013, the carmaker said in a statement.

Electric motor design and production is a core business for GM in the development and manufacture of plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles and this new motor plant will entail an investment of $269.5 million, it said.

We believe the future of sustainable transportation is electrically driven vehicles and this facility will help us maintain a leadership position within this category, said Mike Robinson, GM vice president, Energy, Environment and Safety Policy. It's fitting that green 'motors of the future' are being built at a facility well recognized for ongoing efforts to reduce its environmental impact.

Besides, GM said that the plant will be powered in part by a 1. 23-megawatt rooftop solar array, which is expected to generate nine percent of its annual energy consumption and save approximately 330,000 dollars during the life of the project.

GM said last week it plans to invest two billion dollars into 17 U.S. facilities nationwide over the next few years.

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