BMW announced that the company would use their newly-developed cylindrical battery cells in its upcoming NEUE KLASSE vehicles.
The new batteries were developed in BMW‘s Battery Cell Competence Centre and are designed explicitly for the NEUE KLASSE architecture.
Frank Weber, who is a board member responsible for development, had this to say about the new batteries:
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 per cent, improve charging speed by up to 30 per cent and enhance range by up to 30 per cent. We are also reducing CO2 emissions from cell production by up to 60 per cent. These are big steps for sustainability and customer benefits.
The company hopes its in-house battery will drop battery costs by as much as 50 per cent compared to the previous generation.
In addition, the batteries should provide an increased range of up to 30 per cent for the top models.
With the new batteries, the NEUE KLASSE will also be able to charge with a current of up to 500 amps, which could drop charging time by up to 30 per cent.
In addition to the battery announcement, BMW also confirmed their plans for battery production.
The company will open two battery factories in each of China, Europe and the USMCA regions with selected partners.
The six new factories will have a combined capacity of 20 GWh.
In addition to the cylindrical batteries, BMW also confirmed they are still working on the development of all-solid-state batteries.
BMW confirmed they are still working toward a 2025 revealing of the technology via a demo vehicle.
