(April 22, 2024) TOKYO — Japan-based electric vehicle battery maker AESC Group is nearly doubling its investment in a South Carolina Gigafactory with a $1.5 billion outlay that creates 1,080 new jobs supplying BMW, according to Automotive News.

The battery maker, in its update on Friday, didn't detail the output capacity after the expansion. The initially announced volume could supply enough 100-kilowatt-hour batteries for 300,000 EVs annually. Total investment now reaches $3.12 billion, with planned employment of 2,700 people.

The expansion of the plant in Florence County follows an initial announcement in December 2022 that AESC would spend $810 million to build a 30 gigawatt-hour plant there to supply next-generation EVs that will be made by German premium maker BMW at its nearby factory.

The latest factory enlargement builds a second lithium ion battery manufacturing facility next to the first. Construction of the first began last June at the 1,000-acre site. The plant is expected to come online in 2027 and supply BMW's assembly plant in Spartanburg, S.C., where the automaker plans to produce at least six EV models by 2030.

Source: Automotive News