When it comes to electric vehicles, BMW means business. By the 2030s, both BMW subsidiaries Mini and Rolls Royce will transition to all-electric lineups. That goal may sound ambitious until you learn that electric drivetrains will power all future BMW Motorrad urban mobility models moving forward.
The Bavarian automaker will uphold its end of the deal as well, releasing its sixth generation BMW eDrive technology for use in the brand’s 2025 Neue Klasse models. Using what BMW refers to as “round cells”, the 46mm power units will come in two heights. To improve the battery’s energy density, the firm increased the nickel and silicon content while reducing the cobalt quantity (compared to BMW’s fifth-generation battery cells).
“The newly-developed sixth generation of our lithium-ion cells will bring a huge leap in technology that will increase energy density by more than 20 percent, improve charging speed by up to 30 percent, and enhance range by up to 30 percent,” claimed BMW AG Development Board of Management member Frank Weber. "These are big steps for sustainability and customer benefits.”
Those round-cell batteries won’t produce themselves, though. So, BMW awarded a ten-digit-euro construction contract to CATL and EVE Energy to build battery cell factories around the world.
“To meet our long-term needs, we will be building battery cell factories with our partners, each with an annual capacity of up to 20 GWh, at six locations in key markets for us: two in China, two in Europe, and two in [North America],” revealed BMW AG Purchasing and Supplier Network Board of Management member Joachim Post. “We have also reached an agreement with our partners that they will use a percentage of secondary material for the raw materials lithium, cobalt, and nickel, as well as utilizing green power for production, to ensure CO2-reduced manufacturing.”
According to BMW, those efforts could reduce its battery cell production emissions by up to 60 percent. This announcement comes as no surprise to diehard Beemer fans. The company is already investing in sustainable lithium extraction processes and developing all-solid-state batteries. Like we said, BMW means business when it comes to EVs.
