SC battery cell plant eyes expansion, nets extra $50M in taxpayer support

FLORENCE — South Carolina could give an electric vehicle battery cell maker an additional $50 million in state funding for hiring hundreds more workers before the facility ever begins operations.

A panel of state legislators gave initial approval Tuesday to up the ante with Japan-headquartered Envision Automotive Energy Supply Co. as it builds a new plant in Florence. The extra money is a 25% bump to the initial incentive legislators approved in October 2022 to lure the package battery maker to the state.

In exchange, the company promises to create at least 400 additional high-paying jobs and increase its investment by a minimum of $400 million, said state Commerce Department spokeswoman Kelly Coakley.

The company has not disclosed the specific number of jobs and extra investment.

The company announced at a groundbreaking last December it would invest $810 million to build the Pee Dee facility where it would employ 1,170 people when it reached full capacity. Envision is partnering with BMW to produce battery cells for electric vehicles to be built at the German automaker’s Spartanburg facility.

The 1.5 million-square-foot plant, located in an 870-acre industrial park in northeast Florence, marks one of the largest industrial investments in that area of the state.

The average wage for workers at the plant will be $65,000, officials told reporters during the facility’s groundbreaking. It could provide a financial boost to residents, particularly those in more rural surrounding counties that have some of the lowest wages and highest unemployment in the state.

Median wages in Lee, Marion, Marlboro and Dillon counties range from $37,000 to $39,000, according to the latest U.S. Census data. October unemployment rates in those counties range from 3.7% to 6.3%, compared to a 3% rate statewide, according to the state Department of Employment and Workforce.

The pay at the plant is also above median wages in both Florence County ($53,000) and South Carolina overall ($42,500).

The state previously awarded Envision an incentives package with $205 million in grants to help cover the cost of improvements to the site. It also received state income tax credits worth $2,750 per job and a break on its county property taxes.

South Carolina, like many states across the South, has been on an electric vehicle drive, aggressively pursuing deals to secure a foothold in a drastically shifting automotive market. The state has inked agreements with automakers BMW, Volvo and Volkswagen subsidiary Scout Motors, as well as battery companies Cirba Solutions, Redwood Materials, Albemarle Corporation.

The boosted deal still needs final approval from a five-member board, chaired by Gov. Henry McMaster, that monitors state borrowing. The governor was an early supporter of growing the electric vehicle industry in the state, launching efforts in late 2022 to position South Carolina as an electric vehicle powerhouse.