Luxury vehicles manufacturer BMW Group has broken ground on a new high-voltage battery assembly facility in Woodruff, South Carolina, US.

The plant will encompass approximately 100 acres and is expected to generate sixth-generation batteries for the company's BMW X electric vehicles (EV) that are manufactured at the Spartanburg plant in the same state.

The new facility at Woodruff is expected to create more than 300 onsite jobs.

President and CEO of BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg Robert Engelhorn said: “Today’s ground-breaking is the start of a new era at Plant Spartanburg as we prepare to produce fully electric BMW X models for the world.

“The road to the future begins here in South Carolina. Plant Woodruff will be state-of-the-art in terms of sustainability, flexibility, and digitalisation.”

Last October, the company announced a $1.7bn investment in its US companies, $1bn for establishing the Spartanburg EV manufacturing plant, and $700m to develop a new high-voltage battery assembly facility in Woodruff.

Plant Woodruff will become the next BMW iFACTORY and is set to fulfil environmental standards by running on 100% renewable electricity and not using fossil fuels.

BMW AG's Battery Production senior vice-president Markus Fallböhmer said: “We are working consistently to advance the transformation to electromobility.

“Cutting-edge production facilities for top-performance high-voltage batteries are a decisive factor in this.

“Close connection of battery production with vehicle production is part of our strategy.”