German technology giant Bosch is investing $260 million at its Dorchester County plant to build electric motors in the latest push toward boosting South Carolina's stature in the growing electric vehicle manufacturing sector.
Bosch said Oct. 25 that production started at the factory this month, with additional capacity to be added in the coming year. The first motors will be produced for California-based Rivian's R1T pickup truck.
The Bosch manufacturing campus in Dorchester County is the company's largest U.S. facility, employing 1,500 people in a 900,000-square-foot space. Bosch/Provided
Bosch said the work will take place in a 200,000-square-foot section of the factory that once built diesel powertrain components. Another 75,000-square-foot expansion is planned, and the company expects to hire 350 workers by 2025 to support the production.
Bosch said it will continue to build brake systems and gasoline fuel injectors in other parts of its sprawling campus off Dorchester Road. The site also produces vehicle safety products, such as anti-skid technology.
A Rivian R1T pickup truck is parked outside the electromobility plant at the Bosch manufacturing campus in Dorchester County. Bosch is building electric motors for Rivian. David Wren/Staff
“We are in the midst of major shifts in mobility, and the story of reinvention in Charleston is a model for how electrification production can evolve from within an existing facility," Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch in North America, said in a written statement.
Mansuetti, a Clemson University graduate whose career started at the Dorchester County plant in 1984, said Bosch has invested more than $6 billion in electromobility companywide. Global orders for electromobility surpassed $10 billion for the first time in 2021.
The North Charleston plant is the second where Bosch makes electric motors, joining another in Hildesheim, Germany.
"Local production helps to advance our customers’ regional electrification strategies, and further supports the market demand for electrification," Mansuetti said.
Bosch currently is running between three and four shifts in its highly automated electromobility unit depending on demand. The first production line is capable of producing 160,000 motors a year, according to reports, and three additional lines are planned in the next three years.
South Carolina is fast becoming a hub for EV manufacturing, a sector that Ashely Teasdel, deputy secretary of the state Commerce Department, called "the biggest revolution in the industry in 100 years."
Automaker BMW this month announced a $1 billion investment at its Spartanburg County plant to build electric vehicles and another $700 million for a battery assembly facility in Woodruff. Another $2 billion battery factory is planned for Florence County, sources have told The Post and Courier, and Lowcountry manufacturers Volvo Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans are now producing electric models alongside internal combustion vehicles.Â
The Bosch plant in Dorchester County produces the rotor and stator for electric motors and is responsible for final assembly. The company announced a $260 million investment in the plant that will add 350 jobs. Bosch/Provided
Also, Bosch in August announced an expansion at its plant in Anderson County, which will be the company’s first North American site producing hydrogen-powered technology for electric vehicles. That $200 million expansion will create 350 jobs to manufacture fuel cell stacks for commercial trucks.
The Dorchester County plant, which opened in 1974, is the largest U.S. manufacturing site for Bosch with about 1,500 employees in a 900,000-square-foot site on 118 acres.
