The future of BMW is being built at a battery factory in Germany

While different automakers rethink their plans arsenic the world appetite for EVs slows down, BMW is vowing to enactment the course. The German automaker says it still plans to connection an EV successful each conveyance conception crossed each of its brands, including Mini and Rolls-Royce. And astir importantly, BMW is investing billions of dollars successful caller artillery technology, including a caller controller it calls the “Energy Master.”

As the governmental winds shift, BMW hopes doubling down connected EV exertion tin let it to return the lead from Tesla, fend disconnected the coming tidal activity of Chinese EVs, and turn its marketplace share.

Last March, BMW announced its Neue Klasse, the caller all-electric architecture that will underpin its early EVs. As the institution continues to trickle retired specifications of the caller technology, it invited a group of journalists to Munich past period to show disconnected its recently developed artillery cells, the Energy Master power module, and the Neue Klasse motors — each developed in-house.

The caller powertrain promises amended efficiency, much range, and much power density. The cylindrical batteries unsocial connection 30 percent much range, 30 percent faster charging, and 20 percent much power density, BMW claims.

Developing each of those technologies is costly work. The electrification finance that BMW has made unsocial represents “the task of the century, and the biggest finance successful the history of the company,” BMW AG Group committee personnel Joachim Post said. While BMW is giving itself immoderate wiggle room connected erstwhile early electrified vehicles will look successful various markets astir the world, Post said that BMW is aiming to decarbonize the full conveyance lifecycle by 40 percent by 2030.

“BMW is simply a leader successful e-mobility,” Post said during a roundtable discussion, noting that the institution sold 420,000 EVs worldwide successful 2024, representing a 30.5 percent summation twelvemonth complete year. “Due to the wide portfolio, we person successful each applicable conception astatine slightest 1 [battery-electric vehicle]. I deliberation that’s a clear advantage. We’re exertion unfastened because markets and customers determine which exertion to choose.”

BMW is 1 of the smaller automotive manufacturers by measurement successful the world, and its finance and committedness to electrification is significant. The institution has been investing successful electrification since 2009, erstwhile the Mini E was launched. The institution wouldn’t stock a full finance figure, but back-of-the-envelope mathematics indicates it’s good into the billions of dollars.

The institution has developed caller exertion to make its EVs lighter, much efficient, and cheaper to manufacture, each while keeping accumulation lines astir the world moving to move retired a wide assortment of vehicles pinch different powertrains. While China’s EV invention and the US’s increasing hostility toward EVs airs important headwinds, BMW seems unfazed and is continuing to move forward.

BMW’s caller alleged “Gen6” artillery pack, which will underpin the Neue Klasse vehicles, will select passim the company’s brands. The erstwhile Gen5 batteries are prismatic artillery packs installed successful the vehicle’s underbody. These rectangular CATL and Samsung SDI batteries are packaged together successful ample rectangular packs, utilized successful vehicles for illustration the BMW i3 and i4.

These in-house-developed Gen6 cylindrical artillery cells connection 30 percent much range, up to 30 percent faster charging speeds, 20 percent much power density, and are 50 percent cheaper to build.

BMW says its Gen5 batteries are reliable but tin beryllium difficult to switch if they fail. Gen5 artillery cells can’t beryllium individually repaired; instead, the full artillery battalion that underpins the car has to beryllium replaced, which tin beryllium costly and wasteful. The Gen6 batteries are lighter, smaller, and much efficient. And, since they are cylindrical, for illustration Tesla’s batteries, they tin beryllium individually replaced if they fail.

The Gen6 batteries will beryllium installed successful the company’s Neue Klasse vehicles good earlier the remainder of the car is built, astatine the shape wherever the conveyance is still a “body successful white” skeletal frame. The caller cell-to-pack exemplary allows for the pack-to-open-body process to instal the artillery pack, pinch its power module situated nether the rear seats. The artillery battalion becomes the structural level of the conveyance alternatively than a bolted-on piece, adding rigidity and torsion strength, making it portion of the 800-volt architecture alternatively than a level that early vehicles beryllium on. There besides isn’t immoderate physics packaging betwixt the cells, making them easier to recycle and switch since the caller artillery packs are controlled by the caller “Energy Master,” which sits atop the Gen6 pack. (More connected that later.)

The cylindrical batteries are made of bladed copper sheeting, covered successful a slurry, past coiled tightly, capped, and filled pinch electrolyte. They travel successful 2 formats: 4695 and 46120 (46mm successful diameter, and either 95 aliases 120mm successful height). The institution says that the caller battalion tin complaint up to 300km (186 miles) successful 10 minutes erstwhile plugged into a DC accelerated charger. The flatter artillery battalion creation will make it easy to instal successful the company’s afloat statement — moreover the lower-cost models — though BMW was reluctant to opportunity if the exertion will consequence successful little prices for consumers.

Moreover, BMW is teaming up pinch SK tes to recycle aged EV batteries into high-quality metals that tin beryllium reused successful caller artillery production. The purpose is to create an wholly information concatenation of accumulation for the company’s batteries.

It’s unsocial for an automaker to create its ain artillery chemistry and manufacturing processes in-house, and it’s moreover much unsocial that BMW has said it’s not looking to go a artillery manufacturer. The institution says it’s been approached astir perchance manufacturing its artillery exertion for different industries for illustration aerospace, but declined.

BMW plans to root the batteries from EVE Energy and CATL successful China but will combine the artillery packs itself astatine manufacturing sites adjacent wherever the vehicles will beryllium built — thing that BMW refers to arsenic “local-for-local” manufacturing. One specified installation is presently being built successful Woodruff, South Carolina, adjacent BMW’s works successful Spartanburg, wherever it manufactures the X3 some for the US marketplace and for export to countries astir the world. This local-for-local attack is partially to woody pinch the expanding regionalization that’s taking spot successful countries for illustration the US, wherever President Donald Trump’s tariffs would profoundly effect the automotive sector. It’s besides to stabilize immoderate of the proviso concatenation issues that wreaked havoc during the covid-19 pandemic.

“Our accuracy is, the accumulation follows the markets. The proviso concatenation follows the production. We person a immense footprint successful the US,” Post said successful consequence to a mobility astir Trump’s tariff threats. “When we talk astir aluminum and alloy aliases tariffs, the constituent is that we person a immense footprint. It makes america much independent pinch these things,” he continued.

On apical of these caller Gen6 artillery packs sits what BMW calls the “Energy Master.” This “penthouse” will beryllium nether the rear seats successful Neue Klasse vehicles and enactment some arsenic a artillery controller and powerfulness supply. The Energy Master offers powerfulness guidance for some the precocious voltage conveyance and drivetrain systems and the debased voltage systems successful the conveyance for illustration windshield wipers and ambiance control.

The Energy Master tin move betwixt 400 volts and 800 volts based connected the charger output, which BMW argues is simply a much businesslike and intelligent measurement to charge. It will besides grip bidirectional charging, allowing the Neue Klasse models to grip vehicle-to-home (V2H), vehicle-to-load (V2L), and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) functions.

BMW manufactures the Energy Master in-house astatine its retooled works successful Landshut, Germany, astir an hr from Munich. The mill uses robots connected a highly elastic and clean-room-style assembly line. It besides relies heavy connected AI-assisted image nickname to guarantee that parts are installed correctly. The institution is trying retired dexterous robotics that tin cautiously grasp, manipulate, and plug successful wiring harnesses connected the Energy Master, a task presently done by quality workers. Once an Energy Master is assembled and sealed, mill workers cheque the robots’ activity and trial the Energy Masters earlier shipping them retired to BMW’s worldwide locations for installation connected the caller artillery packs.

BMW is nary alien to making electrical cars, but retooling for caller products, training associates, and retrofitting aged plants requires a monolithic finance successful manufacturing locations astir the world — including astatine the company’s oldest works successful the bosom of Munich.

The three-story works is presently successful the process of being retrofitted, deconstructed, and rebuilt (all simultaneously), while still continuing to nutrient 1,000 vehicles pinch different powertrains (ICE vehicles and EVs), each connected the aforesaid line. It’s a monolithic finance of €650 cardinal ($682 million) that not only requires unthinkable logistics guidance but besides the retraining of existing employees, immoderate of whom person worked connected the statement for much than 20 years.

“Our accuracy is that accumulation follows the markets, and the proviso concatenation follows the production. We person a immense footprint successful the US,” Post said. “We are the largest exporter by worth from the US and Germany, and sometimes group hide these things.”

All of this activity comes together to support BMW’s products, proviso chain, and manufacturing statement elastic successful a governmental world that is progressively dispute toward electrification and greenish technology. BMW says it is unwavering successful its committedness to the monolithic changes taking spot successful proscription and has put its money wherever its rima is connected the early of electrification.