BMW is investing big time in South Carolina. The automaker announced it will be putting $1.7 billion into U.S. locations to ramp up electric vehicle production here.
According to Reuters, one billion of those dollars will be heading straight to BMW’s already-existing factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina – which just produced its six-millionth vehicle – to beef up its EV production at the plant. The other $700 million will be spent on a new high-voltage battery assembly plant in Woodruff, South Carolina. A spokesperson for the company says it is the single biggest investment it has ever done.
This is all part of BMW’s reported plans to build at least six fully-electric BMW models in the U.S. by the end of this decade.
The automaker says the new plant, located less than 20 miles away from the existing one, will create at least 300 new jobs, and will reportedly have an annual capacity of up to 20 GWh.
Photo: BMW
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The Woodruff factory is just one of a number of battery factories BMW has recently announced. However, this is the only one that’s coming to the U.S…. probably. Four other factories are being built in Europe and China, and then there’s a mystery sixth factory that doesn’t yet have a concrete location. Apparently, that decision will come based on market demand.
On top of the BMW-owned Woodruff factory, BMW also announced that Chinese renewable energy company – Envision’s Automotive Energy Supply Corporation — will also be building a new plant in South Carolina. It’ll supply the automaker with 30 GWh of batteries.
Reuters reports that the new battery format BMW is using in its EVs will increase battery energy density by over 20 percent. That, in turn, will lead to a 30 percent boost in range. We love to see it.
