The US battery-building spree continues as BMW and Hyundai every made main bulletins this month. First, BMW Group introduced a $700 million funding to construct a brand new high-voltage battery meeting facility in Woodruff, SC, near the corporate’s Spartanburg vehicle manufacturing facility, which is able to get an inflow of $1 billion to make it EV production-ready.
The brand new facility in Woodruff will embody over 1 million sq. ft. and produce subsequent technology batteries for absolutely electrical automobiles, in keeping with BMW. Round 300 new jobs shall be created on web site.
Plant Spartanburg presently produces lithium-ion battery modules for the 2 plug-in hybrid electrical automobiles constructed on the plant, the BMW X3 xDrive30e and BMW X5 xDrive45e. The positioning in Woodruff will even leverage the expertise and experience developed in Plant Spartanburg’s present operations on the new facility.
BMW, Envision pact
BMW concurrently introduced an settlement with battery-maker Envision AESC, which is able to construct a brand new battery cell manufacturing facility in South Carolina, to provide Plant Spartanburg. Envision will produce newly developed spherical lithium-ion battery cells—which had been particularly designed for the sixth technology of BMW eDrive know-how—and shall be used within the subsequent technology electrical automobiles. The annual capability of the battery cell manufacturing facility shall be as much as 30 GWh. The brand new battery format is alleged to extend power density by greater than 20%, enhance charging pace by as much as 30% and improve vary by as much as 30%. On the similar time, CO2 emissions from cell manufacturing shall be decreased by as much as 60% via the partial use of secondary lithium, cobalt, and nickel materials, in addition to renewable power for manufacturing.
Hyundai breaks floor in GA
On October 25, Hyundai Motor Group formally broke floor on a brand new manufacturing plant, ‘Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America’ (HMGMA), in Bryan County, GA. The $5.54 billion funding by the corporate and its affiliate suppliers was introduced 5 months in the past and consists of plans to supply a brand new battery manufacturing facility alongside amenities for making a spread of Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia EVs.
HMGMA will create greater than 8,100 jobs over the following few years as the corporate goals to determine a steady provide chain for EV battery and different EV parts within the U.S. market. HMGMA’s new good manufacturing facility is predicted to start business manufacturing within the first half of 2025, in keeping with Hyundai. Roughly $1 billion is anticipated to be invested by non-affiliated HMGMA suppliers in reference to the venture in different places.
The brand new plant will boast a extremely related, automated, and versatile manufacturing system, which organically connects all parts of the EV ecosystem to comprehend buyer worth. The Georgia facility will grow to be an clever manufacturing plant. All processes of manufacturing—order assortment, procurement, logistics and manufacturing—shall be optimized using AI and knowledge, the corporate acknowledged. The manufacturing system will even assist create a human-centered work surroundings with robots helping human staff. The plant will primarily depend on renewable power sources to energy the ability and use emission-reduction applied sciences to fulfill the RE100 necessities.
Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America Groundbreaking Ceremony in Savannah, Georgia, on October 25, 2022.
