Batteries for the Spark EV, Chevy Volt, Cadillac ELR, and other vehicles are built in the Brownstown Battery Facility in Detroit, which is about 20 minutes away from the DHAM plant. This plant is remarkably quiet, especially for a 479,000-square-foot building housing a lot of moving parts. During our time at Brownstown, that quiet hum was only ever interrupted by a slightly jarring chime. When there's an issue on the line, engineers will ring the jingle arm and a supervisor will come by to help troubleshoot it.
These sounds wailed at random intervals, and one of the chimes was actually to the tune of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," the last song you'd expect to hear in a battery-assembly facility. Each work area gets to decide on its own unique chime. Mine would totally be Michael Jackson's "Beat It."
Photo: Lisette Mejia
