Proterra to build EV battery factory in South Carolina

Proterra Inc. has announced plans to open a new EV battery system manufacturing plant in South Carolina to produce the company’s battery systems for Proterra Powered customers’ commercial electric vehicles, including delivery and work trucks, industrial equipment, buses, and more.

Proterra has committed to a minimum investment of at least $76 million, with additional investments planned over the next several years, and expects to create more than 200 new jobs over the next several years at the 327,000 sq.-ft. battery system production plant. The factory is expected to launch in the second half of 2022 with multiple gigawatt hours of annual production capacity for Proterra’s battery systems. By 2025, the factory is expected to support additional battery system production capacity, as well as the production of ancillary systems incorporated into electric medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles and equipment.

Proterra’s new battery system manufacturing facility will be located at the 42.76-acre Carolina Commerce Center in Greer, South Carolina, near Proterra’s electric bus manufacturing facility in Greenville, South Carolina, and adjacent to the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. By opening the company’s first EV battery system factory on the East Coast of the U.S., Proterra will bring battery production closer to its Proterra Powered customers and its own Proterra Transit electric bus manufacturing operations.

Proterra’s new South Carolina factory represents the company’s third battery production facility nationwide. In December 2020, the company opened its second battery production site co-located in its EV bus manufacturing facility in Los Angeles County.

BorgWarner has agreed to acquire the electric vehicle solution, smart grid and smart energy businesses of Hubei Surpass Sun Electric (SSE). The transaction has an enterprise value of up to RMB 410 million (approx. $59.36 million).

Headquartered in Xiangyang, Hubei province, China, SSE’s electrification business supplies patented electric vehicle charging solutions to customers in China and more than 70 other countries. SSE says it has delivered over 50,000 charging points and has led the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of more than 250 charging station sites. SSE’s charging and electrification capabilities in China are expected to complement BorgWarner’s existing capabilities in Europe and North America, the companies say. SSE’s 2022 revenues for the electrification business are expected to be approximately RMB 180 million (approx. $26.06 million).