Evetta Osborne, 47, and Monique Watson, 28, have installed the lithium-ion battery pack in over 80,000 vehicles. That's nearly every Chevy Volt since preproduction began in 2009, along with the Opel Ampera (a European brand), Holden Volt, and Cadillac ELR. Both mother and daughter have worked at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck plant for over eight years, but they've worked side by side, every day, for five.
The battery packs, which are shaped like a "T", weigh over 400 pounds, and it's Evetta and Monique's job to guide the packs into the vehicle overhead, then secure it with 24 fasteners. "We look at these cars as if they were our babies," Evetta told us, as she lifted the battery, with the help of an automated cart, into a vehicle on the line.
Photo: Lisette Mejia
