The pure electric BMW i4 concept car, which debuted globally last week, opened a new chapter in the BMW Group’s new energy development. It will be equipped with the new fifth-generation BMW eDrive electric drive technology, equipped with ultra-thin batteries with higher energy density. To this end, BMW Group is ready to strengthen cooperation with battery suppliers Ningde Times and Samsung SDI, and signed a lithium supply contract with Ganfeng Lithium to ensure long-term and sustainable supply of battery raw materials and meet the future offensive of new energy products .
As a global pioneer in the field of electric travel, BMW Group is deepening its industrial layout in electric travel. The company has invested more than 10.74 billion euros in the procurement of batteries and related raw materials.
In terms of power battery supply, BMW Group announced in November 2019 that it would deepen cooperation with battery supplier Ningde Times and make additional purchases. The total order value increased from 4 billion euros signed in 2018 to 7.3 billion euros, and the contract validity period was also extended to 2031. At the same time, the BMW Group also announced the signing of a long-term supply contract totaling 2.9 billion euros with another battery supplier, Samsung SDI, valid from 2021 to 2031.
In addition, the BMW Group announced in December 2019 that it would deepen its existing business cooperation with the Chinese company Ganfeng Lithium Industry and sign a long-term supply contract for lithium, a key material for batteries. The total amount of the order is 540 million euros, and the contract period between the two parties is five years (2020-2024).
Starting in 2020, BMW Group will directly purchase lithium and cobalt raw materials, and directly supply raw materials for CATL and Samsung SDI. As a company with a high sense of social responsibility, the BMW Group insists on responsible mining and processing of raw materials. To this end, the procurement experts of the BMW Group go deep into the source of the battery supply chain to ensure the transparency of the origin of raw materials and ensure that the mining and processing of raw materials meet all environmental standards. In the future, raw materials such as cobalt and lithium will be purchased directly from mines in Australia and Morocco.
In addition to ensuring the supply of batteries and raw materials, the BMW Group is also constantly exploring battery technology to grasp the core competitiveness of future electric mobility. BMW Group’s new battery technology center has been put into use, dedicated to the research of battery technology, and applying relevant research results to production. By 2030, BMW plans to double the energy density of batteries and provide customers with twice the pure electric cruising range with the same volume of batteries.
The BMW Group is one of the world’s leading companies in electric travel, and is committed to creating a complete and comprehensive new energy ecosystem for customers to achieve a worry-free electric travel life. In order to ensure that customers have the “right to choose”, the BMW Group plans to launch 25 new energy models by 2023, more than half of which are pure electric models, including the BMW iX3 that will be put into production in Shenyang this year, and the BMW iNEXT and BMW i4 that will be launched in 2021 .
As of the end of 2019, the BMW Group has delivered 500,000 new energy vehicles worldwide; in China, BMW has completed the delivery of its 50,000th customer, achieving a year-on-year growth of 34.1%. Most importantly, the company has accumulated a lot of research and development experience, market experience and car owner experience in this process. In the future, the BMW Group will continue to accelerate the arrival of the new energy era through “customer-centric” innovative technologies and a wide range of products.
