BMW Group forges ahead with e-mobility and secures long-term battery cell needs – total order volume of more than 10 billion euros awarded

Munich / Seoul. The BMW Group is forging ahead with
electromobility and deepening its existing business relationships with
battery cell manufacturers CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.
Limited) and Samsung SDI.

 

The original CATL order volume of four billion euros announced in
mid-2018 will now be increased to 7.3 billion euros (contract duration
from 2020 to 2031), with 4.5 billion euros for the BMW Group and 2.8
billion euros for the Chinese production site of the BMW Brilliance
Automotive Ltd. (BBA) joint venture in Shenyang. The BMW Group is the
first customer of the CATL battery cell plant currently under
construction in Erfurt, Germany. “We strongly supported and played an
active part in establishing CATL in Germany,” said Dr. Andreas Wendt,
member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Purchasing
and Supplier Network.

 

The BMW Group has also signed a long-term supply contract for its
fifth-generation electric drive trains with its second battery cell
supplier, Samsung SDI. The contract, with value of 2.9 billion euros,
extends from 2021 to 2031. “In this way, we are securing our long-term
battery cell needs. Every cell generation is awarded in global
competition to the leading manufacturer from both a technology and a
business perspective. This ensures we always have access to the best
possible cell technology,” Wendt announced at a supplier event today
in Seoul, South Korea.

 

The BMW Group will source the cobalt needed as a key raw material for
cell production directly from mines in Australia and Morocco and make
it available to CATL and Samsung SDI. The same applies to lithium,
which the BMW Group will also source directly from mines, including
from Australia. This gives the company full transparency over where
both raw materials come from. Compliance with environmental standards
and respect for human rights have the highest priority. The BMW
Group’s fifth-generation electric drive trains from 2021 on will also
be produced entirely without using rare earths. “This means we will no
longer be dependent on their availability,” explained Wendt.

 

Extensive in-house expertise in battery cell
technology
The BMW Group possesses extensive in-house
expertise throughout the entire value chain for battery cell
technology. In-house battery production takes place at BMW Group
Plants Dingolfing (Germany) and Spartanburg (USA), and at the BBA
plant in Shenyang (China). The BMW Group has also localised battery
production in Thailand and is working with the Dräxlmaier Group in
this area.

 

On 14 November, the company opened its Battery Cell Competence Centre
in Munich. The aim of the competence centre is to advance battery cell
technology and introduce it into production processes. The company
invested a total of 200 million euros in the location, which is set to
create up to 200 jobs. The production of battery cell prototypes makes
it possible to analyse and fully understand cell value creation
processes. “Whether we then produce the cells ourselves at a later
date, will largely depend on how the supplier market develops,”
according to Wendt.

 

The BMW Group has formed a joint technology consortium with Swedish
battery manufacturer Northvolt and Umicore, a Belgian developer of
battery materials, for the purpose of developing the cell technology
crucial to electromobility. The cooperation will focus on creating a
complete, sustainable value chain for battery cells in Europe,
extending from development and production all the way to recycling.
Recycling of battery components plays a decisive role in closing the
materials cycle as far as possible and maximising reuse of raw
materials as demand for battery cells grows.

 

BMW Group is a pioneer in electromobility – 25 electrified
models by 2023

By 2023, the BMW Group will have 25 electrified models in its
line-up. The basis for this is created by flexible vehicle
architectures for fully-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and models
with combustion engines that enable the company to respond quickly to
changing conditions. More than half of the 25 models will be fully
electric. The BMW Group will double its sales of electrified vehicles
between 2019 and 2021. The company expects to see a steep growth curve
up to 2025: Global sales of electrified vehicles should increase by an
average of over 30 percent every year. In Europe, the company is also
following an ambitious growth logic: The aim is to increase the
percentage of electrified vehicles in the new vehicle fleet to a
quarter in 2021 and to a third in 2025; by 2030, they should account
for half of sales volumes.

 

As an e-mobility pioneer, the BMW Group is already a leading supplier
of electrified vehicles. By the end of 2019, the company aims to have
more than half a million vehicles with fully-electric or plug-in
hybrid drive trains on the roads. Within two years, the BMW Group will
offer five fully-electric series-production vehicles: Alongside the
BMW i3*, with more than 160,000 units built to date, this year will
see the start of production of the fully-electric MINI* at Plant
Oxford. This will be followed in 2020 by the fully-electric BMW iX3
from Shenyang (China) and, in 2021, by the BMW iNEXT, which will be
produced in Dingolfing and the BMW i4 from Plant Munich.

 

 

Please contact us if you have any questions:

 

Corporate Communications

 

Saskia Eßbauer, Corporate Communications

Saskia.Essbauer@bmw.de,
Telephone:
+49 89 382 18364

 

Mathias Schmidt, Head of Corporate and Culture Communications

Mathias.M.Schmidt@bmwgroup.com,
Telephone:
+49 89 382 24544

 

Internet: www.press.bmwgroup.com

Email: presse@bmwgroup.com

 

The BMW Group

With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW
Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and
motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services.
The BMW Group production network comprises 31 production and assembly
facilities in 15 countries; the company has a global sales network in
more than 140 countries.

In 2018, the BMW Group sold over 2,490,000 passenger vehicles and
more than 165,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the
financial year 2018 was € 9.815 billion on revenues amounting to
€ 97.480 billion. As of 31 December 2018, the BMW Group had a
workforce of 134,682 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term
thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established
ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain,
comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to
conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

 

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