Chinese-owned energy company AESC halts plans for $1.6 billion US battery factory to supply BMW EVs
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A Chinese-owned company headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, recently halted plans to construct a battery cell plant in the United States to sell components to a German automaker. If that doesn’t sound like the punchline to a nerdy globalization joke, I don’t know what does. But, in all seriousness, AESC Group recently decided to hit the brakes on a $1.6 billion battery factory project in South Carolina as “policy and market uncertainty” in America worries the company.
‘Policy and market uncertainty’ in the US has prompted AESC to stop work on its $1.6 billion South Carolina facility
The next generation of US-market BMW EVs may have just taken something of a hit. Chinese-owned Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) Group halted its plans to construct an EV battery cell plant in Florence, South Carolina. Now, a Chinese-owned, Japanese-headquartered battery plant might not sound like it has much to do with BMW. But it does.
The AESC intended for the $1.6 billion project to supply German automaker BMW with battery componentry as part of the brand’s 2026 Greer, South Carolina, operations. But the company isn’t taking the current political and market landscape lightly. AESC Group says it’s halting its construction of the pricey plant due to “policy and market uncertainty” in the United States.
As for local government in South Carolina, politicians have identified one of the initiatives of the Trump administration for the project’s halt. They cite the “potential discontinuation” of EV tax incentives from the federal government for the AESC’s foot-dragging on the project. However, the China-owned battery producer says it will restart construction on the project, although it didn’t say when. That’s partial good news for South Carolinians seeking work at the plant in one of the 1,600 jobs it promised to create.
BMW says it won’t delay its plans to open its Greer, SC, plant in 2026
The Florence, South Carolina, plant promised to supply battery cell architecture to BMW’s operations in the state. Specifically, BMW plans to open its Greer, South Carolina, plant using a steady supply of componentry from Florence.
The announcement that AESC Group is halting construction of the Florence battery plant hasn’t seemed to put any delay on BMW’s plans. According to ABC News, BMW claimed that the halted project has not impacted the Bavarian automaker’s intent to open its doors in Greer next year.
