Bosch has started making electric motors at its Charleston plant, and it plans to spend more than $260 million to make more of them.
The German technology company said Tuesday that it launched production of electric motors at the Dorchester County site in October. The expansion is expected to create at least 350 net new jobs by 2025, according to Bosch.
“We have grown our electrification business globally and here in the North American region,” said Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch in North America, in the company’s announcement. “Local production helps to advance our customers’ regional electrification strategies, and further supports the market demand for electrification.”
From diesel to electric
The new production line sits in a building that used to make diesel components. Bosch announced in January 2020 that it would slowly ramp down production of diesel powertrain components at the plant, and the site indicated then that it would secure electrification business, the company said.
The electric motor operation covers about 200,000 square feet in an existing building on the campus. It includes production of rotors and stators and final assembly of the motors, according to Bosch.
Bosch said it has won more electromobility business that requires more room. It plans to add about 75,000 square feet onto the building. The total investment, for the addition and new manufacturing equipment, will be more than $260 million, and the expansion is expected to be running by the end of 2023.
Mansuetti started his Bosch career as a manufacturing engineer at the Charleston plant.
“This launch delivers on a commitment to our associates and to the local community in Charleston,” he said. “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.”
To prepare workers, Bosch said it has offered reskilling and upskilling, including sending employees to other Bosch plants around the world for training.
What the motors do
An electric motor turns electrical energy into the mechanical energy that moves an electric vehicle. The rotor is the spinning part and holds magnets; the stator is the stationary part, made of electric coils fed by current from the battery through the power electronics, Bosch explained.
The company said its electric motors deliver 50 to 500 kilowatts, with up to 98% efficiency, and are built for uses ranging from passenger cars to light commercial vehicles.
The plant
The Charleston plant opened in 1974 and is Bosch’s largest manufacturing site in the United States by employment, with about 1,500 workers, the company said. It has more than 900,000 square feet of floor space on 118 acres.
Besides the new motors, the plant makes high-pressure fuel injectors and pumps for internal combustion engines, and electronic stability control systems, an anti-skid technology Bosch sells as ESP, according to the company.
State and county reaction
“As more electrified solutions come to the market, the strong footprint and skilled workforce in South Carolina is well established to help organizations bring these solutions to the market,” Gov. Henry McMaster said in Bosch’s announcement. “We are grateful for another strong commitment from Bosch to our state.”
State Commerce Secretary Harry M. Lightsey III said Bosch is “paving the way by showing the growth opportunities for existing manufacturing facilities that support new technology.”
Dorchester County Council Chairman Bill Hearn said the county was proud of its long relationship with Bosch. “Bosch’s decision to bring electric vehicle technology to Dorchester County is yet another example of our ongoing commitment to help our businesses and industries prosper,” he said.
A second South Carolina bet
The Charleston announcement follows another in the Upstate. In August, Bosch said it would invest more than $200 million to produce fuel cell stacks in Anderson, a project also expected to create at least 350 jobs by the start of production in 2026.
Bosch says it has invested more than $6 billion in electromobility development worldwide, and that its global electromobility orders topped $10 billion for the first time in 2021.
The Bosch Community Fund, the company’s North American foundation, has given more than $2.5 million in STEM education grants in the Charleston area since 2013, Bosch said, and the company is working with local schools to add electrification basics to their curriculum.
