The BMW Group will invest $1.7 billion to support electric vehicle production in the U.S., the company announced Oct. 19.
The investment, which is expected to create more than 300 jobs, includes:
- $1 billion to prepare for the production of electric vehicles at BMW Plant Spartanburg.
- $700 million to build Envision AESC’s 1 million-square-foot facility in Woodruff, which will produce high-voltage batteries designed for BMW’s eDrive technology.
BMW Group has plans to build at least six fully electric models in the U.S. by 2030.
“For decades, Plant Spartanburg has been a cornerstone of the global success of the BMW Group,” said Oliver Zipse, chairman of the management board of BMW. “The home of the BMW X models that are so popular all over the world. 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. That means: The ‘Home of the X’ is also becoming the ‘Home of the Battery Electric Vehicle.’ In addition, we can showcase BMW Group’s ‘local for local’ principle: Our newly developed sixth generation battery cells, which were specifically designed for the next generation electric vehicles, will be sourced here in South Carolina – where X goes electric.”
Plant Spartanburg produces lithium-ion battery modules for the two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles built at the plant, the BMW X3 xDrive30e and BMW X5 xDrive45e. In 2021, nearly 70,000 electrified BMWs were built on-site.
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The South Carolina facility also produces the BMW X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 sports activity vehicles and four BMW M models. Production of the hybrid-electric BMW XM will begin later in 2022.
