Biden announces new use for old GM plant

WILMINGTON, Del., Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A shuttered General Motors facility in Delaware will reopen to produce long-range electric hybrid vehicles, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announced Tuesday.

The Wilmington, Del., assembly plant was selected by Fisker Automotive, of Irvine, Calif., as its main global production facility based on its size, production capacity and access to shipping ports, rail lines and skilled workforce, Biden said.

"While some wanted to write off America's auto industry, we said no. We knew that we needed to do something different -- in Delaware and all across the nation," Biden said. "We understood a new chapter had to be written, a new chapter in which we strengthen American manufacturing by investing in innovation."

In September, Energy Secretary Steve Chu announced a $528.7 million conditional loan for Fisker Automotive for the development of two lines of plug-in hybrids, the White House said in a news release. Of the total loan, $359 million is going to revive manufacturing at the Boxwood Plant in Delaware.

The company estimates it will build 75,000 to 100,000 of the energy-efficient vehicles every year by 2014.