Japanese Company Plans $810M Battery Plant in South Carolina

The facility could have up to 1,170 workers.

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FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) — A Japanese company said it plans to build batteries for electric BMW vehicles at a new plant in South Carolina, spending $810 million on a facility that could have up to 1,170 workers.

Envision AESC did not say Tuesday when its plant in Florence will open, but BMW said in its own announcement at its South Carolina plant in October that it wants to have electric vehicles amount to half its total auto production by 2030.

The German automaker announced it would use Envision AESC to make batteries, but the exact location of the plant wasn't released until an event Tuesday that included South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and a number of other state and local officials.

With BMW and Volvo of South Carolina along with Hyundai along the Georgia coast planning large increases in electric vehicles, battery and other component plants are following.

BMW is also investing $700 million to build a different battery plant near its plant in Greer along with $1 billion in upgrades to that facility for electric vehicles.


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