London, Oct 23 (IANS): After releasing plans to scale EV and battery production in the US, BMW has announced it would also be adding a new battery assembly line and new cell varnishing lines at its plant in Germany's Leipzig.

The luxury automaker says the batteries will be used for its fully electric Mini Countryman crossover, reports the auto-tech website Electrek.

Earlier, a report said that BMW was moving production of its electric Mini models from the UK to Germany and China to streamline production.

Now, the luxury automaker is announcing adding additional battery capacity ahead of several highly anticipated Mini EV launches.

The 100 per cent electric version of the Mini Countryman is expected to debut in 2023, and will also be produced at the Leipzig plant.

In addition, the Mini Aceman is expected to launch in 2024, the brand's first all-electric MINI crossover sport activity vehicle (SAV).

Meanwhile, the company recently said it will invest $1.7 billion to build electric vehicles (EVs) in the US.

The investment includes $1 billion to prepare for producing electric vehicles at the company's existing US manufacturing facility in South Carolina and $700 million to build a new high-voltage battery assembly facility near Woodruff there.