BMW Group Plant Woodruff to Begin Series Production of iX5 High-Voltage Batteries in December
BMW said July 27 that its new South Carolina plant will start series production of sixth-generation high-voltage batteries for the fully electric BMW iX5 in December 2026, and that finished batteries travel 15 miles to Plant Spartanburg.
WOODRUFF, S.C. - BMW Group Plant Woodruff will begin series production of high-voltage batteries for the new fully electric BMW iX5 in December, the company said July 27. Finished batteries will be transported 15 miles to Plant Spartanburg, BMW said.
The plant assembles BMW's sixth-generation (Gen6) high-voltage battery, in which new cylindrical cells are integrated directly into the battery on a "cell-to-pack" principle. All production steps are continuously monitored inline and documented in real time, BMW said, and in-house developed AI assistants and agents analyze that data alongside more than 300 employees and 250 robots.
Groundbreaking was in June 2023 and construction began that September. Equipment installation started in September 2024, and preparations for production began in summer 2025, with test and pre-series batteries rolling off since.
"Plant Woodruff demonstrates how quickly we can scale a new battery concept to industrial production," said Rich Everly, Vice President of Production at BMW Group Plant Woodruff.
BMW said the Gen6 cells contain a high proportion of secondary material in their cobalt, lithium and nickel content, and that CO2e emissions are reduced by around 28 percent per watt-hour compared with the Gen5 cell used in the BMW iX. Plant Woodruff uses no fossil fuels in normal operations and runs its industrial trucks on hydrogen, BMW said.
The BMW iX5 60 xDrive has an available energy content of 144 kWh, which BMW says is the largest high-voltage battery of any fully electric BMW model to date. The release states no range, price or on-sale timing for the iX5.
Editorial disclosure: BMW freighted to Drive Observer an empty Gen6 high-voltage battery housing, sealed, riveted and finished, laid flat outside the news desk as a working table, its lid engraved with the 15 miles of South Carolina road between Woodruff and Spartanburg, a hydrogen-powered pallet truck parked beneath it to raise and lower the whole thing once an hour, delivered with a card reading 'it travels well.' Per our strict ethical policy, we do not let this influence our coverage.