The transition to e-mobility is well underway at the BMW Group. This year, electrified vehicles should account for around 15% of the company’s sales, reaching more than a third by 2026 and about half before 2030.
To achieve this, the BMW Group has developed expertise in e-mobility and e-drive production across the company and along the entire process and value chain – in particular, for the key components: the electric motor and, most importantly, the high-voltage battery.
As well as the Battery Cell Competence Centre in Munich (research and development for cell design and chemistry) and the Cell Manufacturing Competence Centre in Parsdorf, this also includes a global production network for e-drive components of the current (fifth) generation, with Plant 02.20 in Dingolfing at its centre.
This is where production of electrification components got underway in 2015. Since 2020, electric motors, battery modules and the current fifth generation of high-voltage batteries have all been built at the site – and supplied to BMW Group vehicle plants, such as Dingolfing, Munich and Regensburg. The same applies to the Dingolfing models: the BMW iX, i7 and, now, the BMW i5.
Plant 02.20 has more than 14 production lines in total, while employee numbers have increased dramatically in recent years to almost 2,500. The BMW Group has invested over a billion euros in expanding capacity since 2015. The principle of “expansion through restructuring” generally applies to the increase in personnel. Staff from other areas of the Dingolfing site and the BMW Group – for example, from production of internal combustion engines in Munich, which will be phased out going forward – transferred to Plant 02.20, where they were trained to work in the growth field of e-mobility. Training thus becomes the key to successful transformation.
The BMW Group is currently gearing up for global production of the sixth generation of e-drive components that will be used for the first time in the NEUE KLASSE from 2025 onwards. The objective is for high-voltage batteries to be produced close to our car plants, consistently adhering to the principle “local for local”. In addition to new sites in Woodruff near Spartanburg/USA, San Luis Potosí/Mexico, Shenyang/China and Debrecen/Hungary, a new plant is planned in Lower Bavaria, which will also produce these high-voltage batteries. Training for employees from these facilities is already underway at Dingolfing Plant 02.20. Over the next few weeks, for example, about 80 employees from Debrecen will be on site for a deep-dive into products and production processes for the high-voltage battery used in the NEUE KLASSE.
