BorgWarner grows battery facilities in the US

US automotive supplier BorgWarner is increasing its battery and e-mobility capacities in the United States by upgrading existing South Carolina and Michigan facilities. The company also has plans to open a whole new EV battery service centre.

First to South Carolina, where BorgWarner announced an investment of $42 million into expanding its Seneca factory. The investment will help them upgrade the facility and develop new manufacturing lines to produce 3GWh of battery modules a year. BorgWarner slated the expansion to begin this summer and targets completion in the first half of 2024.

BorgWarner says it worked closely with the State of South Carolina and Oconee County but did not disclose any funding it may have received.

Over in Michigan, however, BorgWarner confirmed it received a $1.86 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

Frédéric Lissalde, President and CEO of BorgWarner Inc., said they were “grateful” for the grant. “We intend to use the grant to expand BorgWarner’s manufacturing capability and presence, enhance volume capacity and grow our cross-functional departments.”

The funding is part of a total of $20 mn the supplier is investing into expanding three existing facilities, including developing a new EV battery service centre in the US state. The expansion concerns the BorgWarner plants in Auburn Hills, Dearborn and Hazel Park. The latter will house the new centre, which BorgWarner expects to accelerate the development, manufacturing and testing of EV products and EV charging infrastructure equipment, including battery modules and packs.

Overall, the company will split the investment across the three factories, with Hazelpark receiving almost half ($10.6 mn) to build the separate 100,000-square-foot EV R&D centre. The supplier says the new battery service centre will provide service for all BorgWarner batteries in North America with a focus on testing, diagnostics and training. They will also add a new battery module assembly line in Hazel Park.

While not specified, it is assumed that the remaining capital will be split equally between the two Michigan plants. BorgWarner writes that the Auburn Hills portion will be allocated toward new electrification labs that will house testing equipment and allow for further research and development activities. In Dearborn, the facility will grow by 7,000 square feet for new manufacturing, engineering and service departments dedicated to DC fast-charging equipment. This is to double its current capacity and, in turn, implement a second shift.

borgwarner.com (South Carolina), borgwarner.com (Michigan)