German carmaker BMW on Friday announced plans to begin mass production of the 6th generation of batteries for electric vehicles in 2026 in China, which will use large cylindrical galvanic cells.
BMW is currently working with Chinese manufacturers, including CATL and EVE Energy, to set it up.
At the end of 2024, BMW launched a pilot production of a new generation of batteries at its production base in Shenyang (the administrative center of Liaoning Province, Northeast China). This year, for the first time, batteries will be used in new models of electric vehicles.
Their operation is based on a new 800-volt ultra-high voltage platform, which, if you charge the car for 10 minutes, allows you to increase its range by 300 km. Improvements also include a 20% increase in energy density, a 30% increase in charging speed, and a 30% increase in range, and some versions of this battery model achieve even higher performance.
BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd., BMW's joint venture with China in Shenyang, is the first joint automaker to establish a battery manufacturing center for electric vehicles and a closed-loop recycling system.
Since 2017, BMW's total investments in the production of batteries for electric vehicles and R&D centers in China have exceeded 14 billion yuan (about 2 billion US dollars). Since 2010, the total investment in BMW's manufacturing base in Shenyang, the carmaker's largest production base in the world, has reached 105 billion yuan.
