GREENVILLE COUNTY — Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research, located on a 250-acre campus in Greenville County off Perimeter Road, has been awarded a $22 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to establish a regional hub for electric vehicle battery performance testing and workforce training — a designation that Clemson officials say positions CU-ICAR as a national resource for the rapidly expanding EV supply chain.
The grant, awarded through the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, will fund construction of a battery characterization and abuse testing laboratory on the CU-ICAR campus, as well as a workforce development program developed jointly with Greenville Technical College and Spartanburg Community College to train technicians in EV battery systems.
“The timing of this is not accidental,” said CU-ICAR Executive Director [Name]. “BMW is building an EV production line 15 miles from here. Michelin is developing EV-compatible tire systems. The supply base is transforming. We need to be the research and talent infrastructure that supports that transformation.”
The battery testing laboratory will be capable of running charge/discharge cycle tests, thermal runaway simulations, and mechanical abuse testing — the latter required to assess battery behavior in collision scenarios. The facility will be available to both academic researchers and private-sector clients under a cost-sharing model, a structure that CU-ICAR has used successfully with its existing vehicle dynamics and powertrain testing infrastructure.
The workforce development component, designed for technicians rather than engineers, will create a 14-week certificate program in EV battery systems available at Greenville Tech’s Barton Campus and Spartanburg Community College’s Cherokee County campus. The program is designed to be stackable with existing automotive technology credentials.
BMW, Michelin, and three Upstate automotive suppliers contributed letters of support for the DOE application and have committed to interview program graduates for open positions, though no formal hiring guarantees are attached.
CU-ICAR, founded in 2003 through a partnership between Clemson, Greenville County, and the state’s economic development apparatus, currently hosts research programs affiliated with more than 30 automotive and mobility companies. The battery testing lab is expected to break ground in fall 2026 and open in 2028.