Waymo LLC today received approval to open a plant in Michigan where it will retrofit vehicles with its autonomous driving technology to grow its ride-hailing fleet.

The operation will be based out of an existing, yet-to-be-selected “light manufacturing” facility in the southeastern part of the state. Waymo didn’t share any specifics in its announcement this morning, but the Michigan Economic Development Corp. disclosed that the plant is slated to have a staff of 100 workers with potential for up to 300 more.

The employees at the facility will have the complex task of integrating Waymo’s hardware and software into the vehicles it buys from auto industry partners. The Alphabet Inc. subsidiary’s main supplier is Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, which last year agreed to provide up to 62,000 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans for the group. Waymo also has a contract with Jaguar Land Rover Automatic PLC for up to 20,000 I-Pace electric crossover SUVs.

Magna International Inc., the supplier that manufactures the I-Pace for Jaguar Land Rover in Austria, will partner with Waymo on the project. The development amounts to a major expansion of the Alphabet subsidiary’s manufacturing operations. Waymo currently assembles self-driving cars in a location near Detroit that employs only about 20 people.

The new facility will be built using a $13.6 million investment and also will receive an $8 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Waymo said it expects the plant to take a few years to become fully operational, but it didn’t detail the site’s manufacturing capacity.

The Alphabet subsidiary might potentially open additional facilities in the future given the massive number of cars it has on order. The unit is scaling up its supply chain to support the planned expansion of its commercial ride-hailing service, which launched in early December.

Waymo One, as the service is known, is currently available to a few hundred users in select parts of the Phoenix area. Waymo is looking to make its self-driving vehicles accessible to more users over time and, according to a November report, hopes to bring them to Silicon Valley at a later phase of the expansion.

Photo: Waymo