BMW has its own battery cell research center in Germany, but has left large-scale development to its partners, placing multi-million dollar orders with CATL and EVE Energy to produce battery cells in China and Europe
BMW is committed to efficient design and recycling to reduce battery costs and is refraining from investing in mines, its chief financial officer said on Friday, setting it apart from some competitors delving deeper into the supply chain.
“We don’t think it’s right to invest in mines. We consider it more important to recover the raw materials for cars and other products,” Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter said in an interview.
Peter, who will retire in May, also said the automaker was experiencing a strong first quarter and said he saw no reason to doubt the company’s ability to hit its forecast set earlier in the month of a margin of 8 % to 10% in 2023.
BMW batteries
BMW has its own battery cell research center in Germany, but has left large-scale development to its partners, placing multi-billion dollar orders with CATL and EVE Energy to produce battery cells in China and Europe.
Reducing the costs of batteries, most of which come from raw materials, is the main challenge for automakers trying to reap benefits from electric vehicles equivalent to those of combustion cars, a goal that BMW hopes. achieve with its “Neue Klasse” line of electric vehicles, which will launch in the middle of the next decade.
Some, like Volkswagen, are betting big on expanding their own battery production and investing in mining to ensure control throughout the supply chain. Mercedes-Benz said on Thursday it had made a “fundamental decision” to allocate capital to mining and had set up a raw materials office in Canada, where it signed a raw materials deal last year.
BMW is taking a different approach, focusing on creating demand through car production and relying on more experienced partners to build the large-scale infrastructure needed for electrification.
Reuters