Mark Kane
Envision AESC confirmed a second large EV battery gigafactory project in the US this year, towards its target to increase annual manufacturing capacity to 70 GWh (and 300+ GWh globally). The latest investment is a dedicated 30 GWh battery plant in South Carolina, which will produce cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells for the BMW Group’s Plant Spartanburg. Those are BMW’s sixth-generation battery cells with a standard diameter of 46 mm (similar to Tesla) – see more details here. According to Envision AESC, the company is currently working to finalize a suitable site close to BMW Group’s vehicle production and battery assembly facilities. We guess that once the company will secure a plot, we will get some more details. Envision AESC (formerly AESC – Nissan and NEC’s JV – acquired by the Envision Group in 2019, in which Nissan – as far as we know – still holds a 20% share) is a battery arm of global green tech company Envision Group. The new battery gigafactory in South Carolina will come on top of the battery gigafactory in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was announced in April 2022. The factory in Kentucky also will have an output of 30 GWh per year (although with an option for 40 GWh/year). The type of battery cells might be different, since the customers will be different. Envision AESC also has a small facility at the Nissan manufacturing site in Smyrna, Tennessee, US (probably only 3.0 GWh per year, according to previous reports). Global expansion Envision AESC is quickly expanding its manufacturing capabilities with new plants in Japan (up to 18 GWh/year), UK (up to 38 GWh/year), France (30 GWh/year “or more” by 2029), Spain (up to 50 GWh/year) and in China (a few plants). All those projects combined indicate that the former Nissan’s joint venture AESC is going big under the Chinese Envision Group. Envision AESC manufacturing sites (annual capacity): Zama, Kanagawa, Japan – *2.6 GWh
https://insideevs.com/news/618462/us-envision-aesc-70gwh-battery-manufacturing/