AESC Seeks Third Round Of State Funding

AESC is seeking a third round of state funding to expand its already historic investment in Florence County.

The Japanese manufacturer is building a $1.6 billion electric vehicle battery cell production plant that will employ more than 1,600 people.

The factory was referred to as Project Agave in a March 20 meeting of the state’s Joint Bond Review Committee, which approved the additional funds, and a March 21 meeting of Florence County Council, which gave first reading to an ordinance to facilitate the funding.

Most of the $110 million would go to creating a “second facility for the production of EV batteries,” according to documents attached to the Joint Bond Review Committee’s agenda, while infrastructure costs and training center improvements would also be funded.

The initial investment of $810 million in 2022 would have created 1,170 jobs. The Dec. 12 announcement upped that total to 1,620.

The factory is being built across the street from Wilson High School and will create cells that serve as the individual power storage units inside an electric vehicle battery. A single electric vehicle could require thousands of cells.

These cells will be used to make electric vehicles at the 8-million-square-foot BMW plant in Spartanburg, which employs 11,000 people.

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