Not only will the U.S. hospital system benefit greatly from GM building ventilators to support coronavirus patients but the car manufacturer itself could also benefit from the deal.

Last week, the Trump administration announced a $490 million contract with GM that will see the carmaker deliver 30,000 ventilators by August. The per-unit cost sits at around $16,000, which actually makes each GM ventilator more expensive than the Chevrolet Spark that starts at a mere $13,220, Auto News reports.

While that may sound a lot, as CNBC reported, that’s “well below the market price of as much as $50,000 price cited by New York Gov. Mario Cuomo at a March 30 news conference”.  To clarify though, at the time, Cuomo was referring to the 150% surge in the price gouging of ventilators. “When we started buying ventilators, they were under $20,000,” he said. “The ventilators are over $50,000 if you can find them. The ventilators didn’t change that much in two weeks”.

Watch Also: Tesla Shows Off Their New Ventilator Made With Model 3 Parts

Admittedly, GM and its partner Ventec Life Systems have much more to do than only build the ventilators as part of its contract with the government. For example, it will also need to make 10 weeks’ worth of consumable parts for each ventilator, hire and train temporary workers, and convert GM’s Kokomo, Indiana plant for the project.

GM intends on starting mass production of its ventilators this week and is ahead of schedule of its target of shipping the first 6,000 by June 1. According to GM spokesman Dan Flores, due to the limited time the company has to automate the manufacturing process, the ventilators will be mostly hand-built.

The ventilators being built by GM and Ventec Life Systems are dubbed the V+ Pro and are designed for critical care and can run on battery power, meaning health workers can use them in non-traditional locations such as makeshift field hospitals. While the V+ Pro is not as advanced as Ventec’s VOCSN system, Flores says it is sophisticated enough to “help the worst of the worst Covid-19 patients.”

Post updated to include quotes on the cost of ventilators as recently cited by New York Gov. Mario Cuomo

GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop
GM’s Hand Made Ventilators Cost More Than A Chevy Spark At $16,000 A Pop