Envision AESC will build a battery plant in the US to supply BMW with a planned capacity of 30 GWh, with production scheduled for 2026.

(Image credit: Envision Group)

Chinese renewable energy group Envision announced today that its battery business unit has entered into a long-term partnership with BMW to supply the German luxury carmaker's next-generation models with power cell products.

Japan-based Envision Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) will build a new zero-carbon battery plant in South Carolina, US, to supply BMW, according to the announcement.

The plant, which has a planned capacity of 30 GWh and is scheduled to come online in 2026, follows Envision AESC's US Kentucky plant built for Mercedes-Benz's electric vehicles (EVs).

Envision AES was launched in 2007 as a joint venture between Nissan, NEC and its subsidiary NEC TOKIN Corporation, and was sold to Envision Group in 2018.

Envision Group holds 80 percent of Envision AESC, while the remainder is controlled by Nissan.

The company has been supplying batteries for Nissan's EV, the Leaf, which was once the world's best-selling electric vehicle, but sales of the car began to slow in 2015.

On March 16, Envision Group announced that Envision AESC had entered into a strategic partnership with Mercedes-Benz to provide power cells for the German automaker's all-electric SUVs, the EQS and EQE.

Envision AESC will build a zero-carbon power cell plant in the US for mass production in 2025, its second battery plant in North America, according to a March statement.

BMW previously said it expects the group plans to deliver a cumulative total of 2 million all-electric vehicles by the end of 2025, and that at least half of BMW's total global sales will be all-electric by 2030.

Last month, Chinese power battery giants CATL and Eve Energy announced battery cell supply agreements with BMW.