BMW Group to invest $1.7 billion in its US operations to manufacture electric vehicles and its batteries. The investment includes $1 billion for EV production and $700 million for a battery assembly facility. The allocation is for its South Carolina plant. BMW also announced a deal to purchase battery cells from Japan-based Envision AESC, which will build a new battery cell factory in South Carolina.
The German automaker expects to produce at least six fully electric models in the U.S. by 2030. The Spartanburg facility, where the investment announcement took place, currently produces BMW “X” SUVs and lithium-ion battery modules for its two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Production of the new hybrid-electric BMW XM is expected to begin later this year. ″Going forward, it will also be a major driver for our electrification strategy, and we will produce at least six fully electric BMW X models here by 2030,” BMW Chair Oliver Zipse said.
BMW on Wednesday also announced a deal to purchase battery cells from Japan-based Envision AESC, which will build a new battery cell factory in South Carolina to supply the BMW plants. The Envision AESC facility is expected to have an annual production capacity of 30 gigawatt-hours — in line with plans of other automakers and battery suppliers for U.S. plants, BMW said. A spokeswoman for Envision AESC said the new plant is expected to be a multi-billion investment, but declined to specify an exact amount. She said a location for the facility is expected to be announced by the end of the year.
Manufacturing EVs
Earlier in April, the company announced plans to spend $2 billion to build a second U.S. plant in Kentucky. Its first plant in Tennessee supplies Nissan Motor. Its other major customer is BMW in the U.S., with discussions ongoing with “a number of global automotive manufacturers and partners,” the spokeswoman said. Additionally, BMW has already announced four additional battery cell factories will be built in Europe and China to meet its demand for next-generation battery cells.
The announcements are the latest of several recent multibillion-dollar investments in U.S production of EVs and batteries amid tightening emissions regulations and legislation to encourage domestic manufacturing. It is known that Automakers are facing stricter sourcing guidelines that are part of the Inflation Reduction Act and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, formerly the North American Free Trade Agreement. Both policies increased requirements for domestically sourced vehicle parts and materials to avoid tariffs or qualify for financial incentives.
