BMW wants to build new car and battery plant in USA

BMW wants to increasingly focus on production in the USA as part of its electric car offensive. To this end, the traditional brand from Bavaria is now investing a total of $1.7 billion in the United States.

Money for car factory and battery assembly plant

The carmaker wants to divide the high investment sum totaling 1.7 billion U.S. dollars between two U.S. projects. First, a new plant is to be built in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at a cost of around 1 billion US dollars. BMW, in turn, is investing a further 700 million U.S. dollars in another plant where the matching batteries are to be assembled. This is to be built in Woodruff, also in South Carolina. According to BMW’s plans, Spartanburg will then grow into a plant of significant size. According to the carmaker, a total of six fully electric vehicle models will roll off the production line there. Also likely to be in the mix then are e-SUVs popular in the U.S. such as the BMW iX xDrive50, which was awarded as the electric car with the highest range this summer.

All good things come in threes

As if that were not enough, BMW also wants to look for the right battery cells. It wants to have Envision AESC set up the plant for this. For experts in the field of electromobility, the name should be anything but unknown. After all, the company already supplies another globally renowned German automaker with suitable battery technology – Mercedes. Among other things, the recently presented Mercedes EQE SUV is to be equipped with the batteries.

But unlike the Stuttgart-based company, BMW plans to have Envision AESC manufacture lithium-ion battery cells that come in a round shape. Mercedes, on the other hand, is relying on prism-shaped cells. According to initial calculations, the circular battery cells will not only provide a higher energy density. On top of that, the charging speed should be significantly higher. Since the production of battery cells on a large scale also requires a lot of raw materials, a reliable supplier is needed. BMW sees this supplier in Canada.

Further plants in Europe and China

BMW’s USA plans sound quite ambitious, but they seem to be just the beginning of the new e-car offensive. In order to meet the growing global demand, additional plants are to be built in Europe and China. However, the focus is not on new production halls for vehicles. Instead, new factories for battery cells are to be built here as well.