Groundbreaking ceremony for the new BMW Group high-voltage battery assembly site in South Carolina, USA

• The BMW Group will produce the high-voltage batteries for the all-electric BMW X models at the Spartanburg plant at the new Woodruff site
• Invested $700 million to build new Woodruff facility and $1 billion in Spartanburg facility to prepare for electric vehicle production
• Local to local: Short distances between cell supplier, battery assembly and vehicle manufacturer

Woodruff, South Carolina, United States. The BMW Group is taking another important step for electric vehicle production in the United States: the groundbreaking ceremony for the new high-voltage battery assembly site took place today in Woodruff, South Carolina. The future BMW Group plant in Woodruff will produce sixth-generation batteries, which will be used at the nearby Spartanburg plant for all-electric vehicles. The BMW Group creates more than 300 jobs.

“We make the BMW Group electrified. Our new high-voltage battery assembly site in Woodruff plays an important role in electric mobility in the US, ”says Ilka Horstmeier, BMW AG Board Member, Human Resources and Real Estate, Business Director. Woodruff facility expands our presence in South Carolina. At the same time, we take our employees with us in this shift. With our new training center at our Spartanburg plant, we are preparing our 11,000 employees for the future. In this way, we take responsibility as a reliable employer and at the same time provide suitable jobs for the future.”

“Today’s laying of the foundation stone marks the beginning of a new era for the BMW Group Plant Spartanburg. Here we will soon be producing all-electric BMW X models for the whole world,” said Robert Engelhorn, President and CEO of BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC, in Spartanburg. The future begins in South Carolina. The Woodruff Factory Being up-to-date on sustainability, resilience, and digitalization.”

Extensive investment in Spartanburg plant

In October last year, the company announced $1.7 billion in investments in the United States; Including $1 billion to prepare the Spartanburg plant to produce all-electric vehicles and $700 million to build a new high-voltage battery assembly site. The BMW Group plant in Woodruff will cover approximately 100 hectares and will consist of a technical building with outbuildings, an energy center, company catering and a fire brigade.

Local to local: short distances between battery production and vehicle production

“We are constantly driving the transition to electric mobility,” says Markus Walbommer, Head of Battery Production at BMW AG. “Modern production facilities for high-performance high-voltage batteries are a critical factor.” When expanding the production network, the company follows a domestic principle: “Part of our strategy is the close linkage between battery production and car production,” Walböhmer explains.

On a “home-grown” principle, the BMW Group’s Woodruff plant will source battery cells for its electric vehicles from cell manufacturer AESC, which is currently based in Florence, South Carolina. Round lithium-ion battery cells Developed specifically for the sixth generation of BMW eDrive technology, the new battery cell format will have a more than 20 percent higher energy density, and charging speed and range will improve by up to 30 percent.

The BMW Group places particular emphasis on ensuring that CO₂Keeping the footprint and resource consumption of production as low as possible. To produce battery cells, cell manufacturers will use cobalt, lithium, and nickel, some of which are made up of byproducts, that is, raw materials that are not newly mined but are already in the cycle. Along with the commitment to using only green electricity from renewable energies for the production of battery cells, the BMW Group will work to reduce carbon dioxide₂Reducing the footprint in battery cell production by up to 60 percent compared to the current generation of battery cells.

High environmental standards: CO₂ Binding when mixing concrete

As another BMW iFACTORY, the BMW Group Plant Woodruff will also take environmental standards into account to a large extent. The site will be run without fossil fuels and will use 100% green electricity. The BMW Group has set itself the goal of reducing carbon dioxide₂– Reducing emissions in its global production network by 80% by 2030 compared to 2019. Factory roofs are prepared for the installation of photovoltaic systems. Smart LED lighting with motion detection devices and an effective dimming strategy reduces energy consumption and light emissions to a minimum. In principle, the high-voltage battery pack does not require any water. Rainwater is collected and used for non-collective purposes. When building the plant, the BMW Group will use innovative technology to separate carbon dioxide during the mixing process₂ Inject it into fresh concrete. As a result, CO₂ They bond permanently at the molecular level and increase the strength of the concrete.

BMW Group of South Carolina

Since 1992, the BMW Group has invested approximately $12.4 billion in its facilities in South Carolina. The BMW Group plant in Spartanburg is the largest BMW Group plant in the world and produces more than 1,500 vehicles every day. The plant is an important part of the BMW Group’s global production network and plays an important role in meeting the growing demand for BMW sports cars and coupes in the United States and around the world. Approximately 60 percent of the vehicles are delivered to approximately 120 markets around the world. This made the BMW brand the most valuable automobile exporter in the United States for nine years in a row. In 2022, about 60 percent of BMW vehicles sold in the United States will come from the Spartanburg plant. The plant has an annual production capacity of 450,000 vehicles and employs more than 11,000 people.

Continuing participation in the USA

In addition to sales and marketing activities, the BMW Group’s US presence includes approximately 30 locations in 12 different states, including a state-of-the-art design studio and R&D center, as well as the California-based venture capital arm of BMW iVentures, BMW. Group Financial Services and BMW Manufacturing Corporation, which operates the Spartanburg, South Carolina plant. The BMW Group dealer network consists of approximately 650 independent BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad dealerships across the country. BMW Group operations directly and indirectly provide and support more than 120,000 jobs in the United States and have contributed $43.3 billion to the American economy.