German autonomous EV shuttle manufacturer Holon expects to begin construction soon on a $100 million manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, FL.
Holon CEO Henning von Watzdorf says his company will start off making 5,000 autonomous EVs a year in Jacksonville, scaling up to a maximum of 12,000 EVs a year in two shifts. Production is scheduled to begin in 2026.
“It offers maximum safety and comfort to up to 15 passengers, close to 40 miles for our top speed to intergate smoothly into traffic,” von Watzdorf said.
Jacksonville has been positioning itself to become a national leader in autonomous vehicles with what it calls the Ultimate Urban Circulator, which is also known as the U2C.
The city and its transit agency secured federal funding and raised its gas tax to start building an autonomous EV shuttle system in the urban core, which made Jacksonville an attractive location for the Holon plant due to the potential synergies.
Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford has been championing autonomous public transit EVs. “Together, as I mentioned earlier, it’s a blueprint for the rest of the country. So all of the hotels and the airlines need to get ready because folks will be traveling to this facility, they’ll be traveling to the Holon’s plant, they’ll be traveling to Bay Street,” Ford said.
Ford was referring to what’s known locally as the Bay Street Innovation Corridor as well as the BayJax Innovation Corridor. Phase one will see the shuttles running up and down the city’s Bay Street area, from the downtown core up to its sports complex, which is home to the NFL Jaguars and other teams.
Two EV autonomous shuttles made by different manufacturers are already up and running in pilot programs with safety drivers in the city’s Riverside area and downtown campus of Florida State Community College at Jacksonville.
The first primary phase will launch in June of 2025 with modified Ford E-Transit EV vans that will be equipped with aftermarket Level 4 autonomous gear.
The hope is to then expand the fleet with Holon EV shuttles once the manufacturing plant comes online and eventually replace the city’s monorail system, known locally as the Skyway, with autonomous shuttles, by repurposing the existing elevated tracks as well as running the shuttles on city streets.
The Holon people mover is powered by a 150-kW motor. Each EV can seat 10 with 5 additional standing passengers, with shuttles arriving every 5 to 7 minutes in phase one.
It has a maximum speed of 37 miles per hour, which should be enough in many parts of the U.S. since speed limits in most U.S. urban cores, campuses and neighborhoods are limited to 35 miles per hour or less.
The Holon has a 90-kWh battery with an estimated range of 100 miles, which allows it to run continuously for about 7 hours before needing to charge.
The EV shuttles include a wheelchair bay and are ADA compliant. It will be a Level 4 autonomous vehicle, meaning it will be capable of operating without human intervention.
The Holon has some visual flare thanks to being penned by world famous Italian automotive designer Pininfarina.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan praised Holon’s decision to build its plant in the city’s northeast quadrant. “The first autonomous electric shuttles ever made in Florida, all of it happending right here in the river city by the sea. Gotta love it,” Deegan said.
The city is kicking in a $7.5 million grant for the plant that will be built on 41 acres on Zoo Parkway, about three miles east of the Jacksonville Zoo.
Holon is owned by Benteler International, which is a German family-owned automotive, steel and engineering supplier that was originally founded in 1876.