BMW to open five new battery factories
BMW Group says that the success of its “Neue Klasse” will depend heavily on the production of powerful high-voltage batteries. This is why the German carmaker is significantly expanding its production network for the next generation of high-voltage batteries.
“We are setting up five facilities on three continents to produce our sixth-generation high-voltage batteries,” says Milan Nedeljković, Board Member for Production at BMW AG, in a press release.
The company’s strategy is to apply to the principle of “local for local”.
"Close connection of battery production with vehicle production is part of our strategy," explains Markus Fallböhmer, Senior Vice President of Battery Production at BMW AG.
Assembly plants for sixth-generation high-voltage batteries are currently under construction in Irlbach-Strasskirchen in Lower Bavaria Germany, Debrecen in Hungary, Woodruff, near Plant Spartanburg in the US, Shenyang in China and San Luis Potosí in Mexico.
The first Neue Klasse vehicles will be produced at the BMW Group’s new plant in Debrecen, starting in 2025. Battery and vehicle manufacturing will launch in parallel. Currently, the final buildings are being completed. They will be handed over to the technologies by the end of the year.
The BMW Group is also going to manufacture high-voltage batteries for Neue Klasse models in Germany – specifically in Irlbach-Straßkirchen, in Lower Bavaria. The new facility will supply sixth-generation high-voltage batteries to German car plants. BMW was granted permission to build the new high-voltage battery assembly plant in April 2024 and erected the first of pillar for the production hall in late June 2024. The production building is scheduled to be enclosed with facade and roof by the end of the year.
From 2026 Neue Klasse vehicles will also be made by BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) in Shenyang, China. Here, too, the sixth-generation high-voltage batteries required for the cars will be manufactured locally. The production hall was completed in November 2023 after a construction time of only 21 months. The installation of plant and machinery has been underway since March 2024.
At San Luis Potosí in Mexico, additional production capacity is being established for series production of the Neue Klasse to start in 2027. Construction of the new high-voltage battery assembly plant started in May 2024 and will comprise more than 80,000 square metres of production space when completed.
Electromobility is also advancing in South Carolina. BMW Group Plant Woodruff will cover an area of about 93 hectares and consist of a technology building, ancillary structures, an energy centre, and Talent campus. When construction reaches completion in 2026, Woodruff will assemble high-voltage batteries for fully electric cars made in nearby Plant Spartanburg.
