BMW investing $1.7B in S Carolina as automaker shifts to EVs

By TOM KRISHER and JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press

GREER, S.C. (AP) — BMW will invest $1 billion in its sprawling factory near Spartanburg, South Carolina, to start producing electric vehicles and an additional $700 million to build a electric-battery plant nearby. The German automaker’s announcement reflects its commitment to transitioning to electric-vehicle production in North America, in line with similarly ambitious plans by other major automakers. The investment in the 7-million-square-foot vehicle factory in Greer, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, would add an unspecified number of jobs to the more than 11,000 workers there. The battery plant, to be built in nearby Woodruff, will employ 300, the company said, with hiring to begin within a few years.