AESC is opening a huge EV battery factory in South Carolina to supply BMW

Battery tech firm AESC is partnered with BMW, and it broke ground today on a 30 GWh EV battery factory in Florence County, South Carolina.

Construction of the 1.5 million-square-foot plant is now under way, and it’s expected to be fully operational in 2026. The $800 million EV battery plant will create 1,170 local jobs.

AESC already has an EV battery factory that’s in operation in Tennessee (pictured above), and it has another EV battery factory under construction in Kentucky. Once all three of AESC’s US factories are online, together they’ll provide up to 70 GWh capacity annually.

AESC announced in October 2022 that it has agreed a multi-year partnership with BMW Group, in which AESC will make batteries for EV models manufactured at BMW’s Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant.

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AESC asserts that the “advanced battery format will result in 20% higher energy density than the current generation, with reduced charging time and increased range and efficiency of 30%.”

The factory in Florence will be 100% powered by clean energy, says AESC. It will work with partners to adopt renewable energy, use carbon management and reduction software, and recycle EV batteries. The company also asserts that it will use responsible sources – read: Inflation Reduction Act approved – for battery materials.

South Carolina’s Department of Commerce is working hard to grow its EV and EV battery manufacturing sectors – and its efforts are paying off. Check out Canary Media‘s map that shows where the clean energy manufacturing projects have landed around the US since the Inflation Reduction Act passed. The Palmetto State is killing it.

Read more: Governor says Volkswagen’s new plant to build Scout EVs is coming to South Carolina

Photo: AESC

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