Dingolfing/Munich. The BMW Group is expanding
production capacity and increasing its staff at the Competence Centre
for E-Drive Production in Dingolfing faster than originally planned.
Due to growing demand for electrified vehicles, the plant expects the
number of modules needed for production of high-voltage batteries to
double from the previous year. The number of electric motors required
will also increase significantly.
Michael Nikolaides, head of Production Engines and E-Drives at the
BMW Group: “We are embarking on a massive expansion of our Competence
Centre for E-Drive Production in Dingolfing: from 8,000 square metres
currently to 80,000 in the future. This is where we produce powertrain
components for our fully and partially electric models. By the end of
the year, we will increase our staff in this area from 600 to more
than 1,400.” Up to 2,000 employees will work on electric motors,
battery modules and high-voltage batteries in Dingolfing in the medium term.
Christoph Schröder, head of BMW Group Plant Dingolfing, adds: “Thanks
to close cooperation between vehicle and component development, our
Dingolfing site is now leading the transformation of the automotive
industry. More than one in five BMW 5 Series Sedans built at our
Dingolfing vehicle plant today is already a plug-in hybrid. We deliver
premium e-mobility from Lower Bavaria to customers all over the world.”
800 new jobs in electric component production – specialists needed
For the upcoming ramp-up and planned volume growth, qualified staff
are currently being recruited on a large scale – both internally at
the BMW Group’s plant locations and outside the company. As Nikolaides
points out: “We are also combing the market for specialists for the
future technology of e-mobility.”
Broad electrified vehicle line-up creates stronger demand for
electric powertrain components
The introduction of the new BMW 330e*, BMW X5 xDrive45e* and BMW X3
xDrive30e* plug-in hybrids, together with the pure electric MINI
Cooper SE*, brings the number of electrified vehicles in the BMW Group
line-up to 12. These will be joined in 2020 by additional electrified
models, such as the BMW X1 plug-in hybrid and the fully-electric BMW iX3.
The BMW Group plans to expand its range of electrified vehicles to 25
models by 2023 – more than half of them fully electric. A quarter of
the BMW Group vehicles sold in Europe are likely to be electrified by
2021; this percentage will reach a third in 2025 and half in 2030.
As a result, the company has a correspondingly high demand for
electric motors and batteries. BMW Group Plant Dingolfing plays a
pivotal role in supplying other sites with these electric powertrain
components. “We don’t just supply the vehicle plant here in
Dingolfing; we also delivery batteries and electric motors to most of
our automotive plants worldwide,” says Nikolaides.
Preparations for production of fifth-generation electric
powertrain components well underway
The site in Lower Bavaria has years of expertise in building
components for electric vehicles. Series-produced batteries for the
BMW i3 have being coming off the line here since 2013. Since then,
products and processes have been continuously optimised.
Preparations are already underway for production of the fifth
generation of electric motors and batteries. Production is slated to
start later this year and will set new standards for scalability and
performance capabilities.
Important infrastructure decisions are also being made in parallel.
In the areas around Dingolfing, the search is underway for a site to
locate a new supply centre for the Competence Centre for E-Drive
Production. This would be built over the next few years and serve as a
“logistics platform” for the competence centre once it reaches its
full capacity.