BMW Group has recnetly announced they are planning to invest 1.7 billion dollars in its U.S. production factory to build electric vehicles and batteries.
The investment will include 1 billion dollars to prepare for production of electrical vehicles at the automaker’s existing Spartanburg factory in South Carolina and $700 million for a new high-voltage battery-assembly facility which is nearby Woodruff.
The German automaker are expecting to produce at least six fully electric models in the U.S. by 2030. The Spartanburg facility, where the investment announcement took place, currently producing 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 of this year.
BMW Chair Oliver Zipse said in a release that,”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.”
On Wednesday BMW Automobiles 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.
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The Envision AESC facility is expected to have annual production with the capacity of 30 GigaWatt hours — in line with plans of other automakers and battery suppliers for U.S. plants, BMW said.
A spokesperson for Envision AESC was not immediately available for his valuable comment. In April, the company announced plans to spend 2 billion dollars to build a second U.S. plant in Kentucky. It’s first plant which is located in Tennessee supplies Nissan Motor.
BMW has already announced 4 additional battery cell factories which 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.
Automobile makers are also 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.
