BMW opens SC battery plant, with plans to build 6 all-electric vehicles by 2030

BMW is celebrating the official start of operations at its battery plant for the carmaker’s new, South Carolina-built electric vehicles.

Gov. Henry McMaster on Friday joined executives of the German automotive giant at its Woodruff facility, 15 miles from its vehicle plant in nearby Greer.

“Just a few years ago, I stood on this site with BMW leadership to break ground on this facility,” McMaster said in a statement. “Today, we are seeing that investment come to life and marking another milestone in BMW’s commitment to South Carolina. BMW has been a strong partner to our state, and this latest investment reinforces what we have built together and the opportunities ahead.

BMW, in 2022, announced its plans to make electric vehicles in the Upstate.

It has since spent $1.7 billion on expanding both the 10 million-square-foot factory in Greer, as well as the new, 1-million-square-foot battery plant. That brings the company’s total investment in South Carolina since 1992 to nearly $16 billion.

By 2030, BMW plans to assemble at least six fully electric vehicles in Spartanburg County, said Raymond Wittmann, a member of the company’s management board.

The South Carolina vehicle plant, BMW’s largest in the world, produced more than 412,800 vehicles last year. Of those, around 200,000 were exported — a total value of $9 billion.

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BMW has the capacity to make as many as 450,000 vehicles in the Upstate.

Updates to the plant allow it to shift seamlessly between gas, electric and hybrid vehicle production.

“With today’s opening of Plant Woodruff, we are further expanding our footprint in South Carolina and strengthening the close integration of battery and vehicle production,” added Robert Englehorn, CEO of BMW’s Upstate operations. “High-voltage batteries assembled at this state-of-the-art facility will power the next generation of fully electric BMW X models from Plant Spartanburg.”

That starts with new iX5 SUV, unveiled in June and hitting the market early next year.

In the meantime, BMW already hired and trained more than 300 people at the battery assembly plant, who will work alongside 250 robots to put together the battery packs, made with battery cells shipped in from China by supplier AESC.