BMW Group The company has announced plans to invest $1.7 billion in its US operations to build electric vehicles and batteries.
The investment will include $1 billion to prepare for electric vehicle production at the automaker’s existing Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, and $700 million for a high-voltage battery assembly facility. new in nearby Woodruff.
The German carmaker is expected to produce at least six units fully electric model in the US by 2030. The Spartanburg facility, where the investment announcement took place, is currently producing BMW “X” SUVs and lithium-ion battery modules for two of its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. New hybrid-electric production BMW XM is expected to begin later this year.
“Going forward, it will also be a key driver of our electrification strategy and we will produce at least six all-electric BMW X models here by 2030,” said BMW President Oliver Zipse. know in a statement.
BMW on Wednesday also announced a battery purchase agreement from Japan-based Envision AESC, which will build a new battery plant in South Carolina to supply BMW plants.
The Envision AESC facility is expected to have an annual production capacity of 30 gigawatt hours – in line with plans by automakers and other battery suppliers for plants in the US, BMW said.
An Envision AESC spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. In April, the company announced plans to spend $2 billion to build a second US factory in Kentucky. The first plant in Tennessee to supply Nissan Motor.
BMW has announced four additional battery plants to be built in Europe and China to meet demand for next-generation batteries.
The announcements are the latest of some recent billion-dollar investments in the US production of electric vehicles and batteries amid tightening regulations and laws on emissions to encourage domestic production.
Automakers are also facing stricter sourcing guidelines, part of Inflation Reduction Act and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement. Both policies increase requirements for domestically sourced vehicle parts and materials to avoid tariffs or qualify for financial incentives.
