The BMW Group is speeding up the adoption of e-mobility and is prepared to gain even more momentum with its NEUE KLASSE vehicle generation. Before 2030, the percentage of total electric vehicle sales for the corporation could reach 50% worldwide. To do this, the business is spending money to expand its global production network. Future production of the NEUE KLASSE will be done at the San Luis Potos, Mexico facility, which is now constructing a high-voltage battery assembly of its own.
Our production network is being gradually geared toward electromobility. At an event in San Luis Potos attended by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Governor of San Luis Potos Ricardo Gallardo Cardona, Milan Nedeljkovi, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Production, stated:
“We are investing 800 million euros in our plant in Mexico and creating approximately 1,000 new jobs.”
Nedeljković continued: “The first cars of the NEUE KLASSE will come off the production line at our plant in Debrecen, Hungary, starting in 2025, followed by the main plant in Munich. We will achieve additional volumes by integrating the NEUE KLASSE at Plant San Luis Potosí from 2027 onwards.”
The corporation just revealed a 1.7 billion dollar investment in the expansion of its Spartanburg manufacturing facility in the US. Included in this are one billion US dollars for the company’s US manufacturing facility’s preparations for the production of electric vehicles and 700 million US dollars for the development of a new high-voltage battery assembly facility in the neighbouring town of Woodruff. The BMW Group wants to produce at least six all-electric cars in the US by 2030.
Fully-electric models complement the production programme in Mexico
Mexico will receive an additional 800 million euros in investment. On the premises of the San Luis Potos plant, 500 million euros of this sum will be used to build a new high-voltage battery manufacturing facility. The new assembly centre has an 85,000 m2 size. There will be almost 500 more people employed making the newest batteries for completely electric automobiles.
“With this new investment, our plant in San Luis Potosí will play a central role in BMW Group’s transition to electromobility. The company is increasing its commitment to Mexico and its stake in our facility, not only due to its strategic location but, above all, to a solid work team, which, in less than four years after starting operations, already produces three models that supply 74 global markets and stand out for their quality,” said Harald Gottsche, President and CEO at BMW Group Plant San Luis Potosí.
Around 3,000 workers now make the BMW 3 Series, 2 Series Coupé, and the new M2 at the facility, which began operations in 2019. In some cases, they do so exclusively for the global market. Because of the plant’s highly adaptable design, only modest modifications to the body shop and assembly will be required to accommodate the new vehicle architecture. The high-voltage battery is immediately integrated into the structure of the NEUE KLASSE, which is a unique characteristic. As a result, the assembly in San Luis Potos is being extended to accommodate the new technique. The plant will start a second shift in April, creating 500 new employees. At that point, San Luis Potos will employ a total of around 1,000 more people.
BMW iFACTORY as production masterplan
Head of Production Nedeljković: “Flexibility and efficient processes are hugely important elements of our BMW iFACTORY, which forms our strategic masterplan for production.”
Plant San Luis Potos is distinguished by its prudent resource management and CO2 reduction efforts. It is very crucial to save water in this arid area. The facility is also home to the first paint shop in the BMW Group to run without generating process wastewater. The water needed for painting is cleaned up and then utilized again. Additionally, the plant solely uses green power, which is produced on-site at a solar power installation covering more than 70,000 square meters, with the help of electricity from a nearby solar farm.
Newly-developed BMW round cells for NEUE KLASSE vehicles
The models of the NEUE KLASSE will use new, round lithium-ion battery cells developed specifically for what will then be the sixth generation of BMW eDrive technology. The new battery format will increase energy density by more than 20% and improve charging speed and range by up to 30%. At the same time, CO2 emissions from cell production will be reduced by up to 60 %, as a result of cell suppliers relying on energy from renewable resources and, in the case of the raw materials lithium, cobalt and nickel, using a certain percentage of secondary material, i.e. material already in the cycle.
