BMW: A battery cell that BMW Group is creating promises to go further, cost less, and be more environmentally friendly. Next-generation Neue Klasse electric vehicles from BMW will be powered by the new lithium-ion cell.
According to the business, the so-called Gen 6 battery, which is being developed at this location’s BMW Group Battery Cell Centre of Excellence, offers up to 30% more driving range than the current generation.
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According to Simon Erhard, who assists in leading Gen 6 development at BMW Group, the battery cell’s cylindrical shape is crucial to performance.
The next-generation design eliminates away the modules that are used in existing BMW batteries, which are made up of prismatic cells arranged in packs that are bolted together. More power-packing cells can be crammed into the same battery area thanks to its revolutionary cell-to-pack architecture. The diameter of the Gen 6 battery is 46 millimetres.
“Energy density is much higher than before,” Erhard told a group of journalists at a media briefing this week. “You can put more cells into the battery pack.”
Additionally, increasing energy density reduces battery weight and price.
According to BMW, the new battery pack is 50% less expensive. Given that the battery pack makes up roughly 40% of the cost of an electric vehicle, this will be crucial to achieving cost competition with vehicles powered by internal combustion engines.
The New Battery
The Gen 6 battery promises to hold a charge longer and recharge more quickly. Recharging from 10% to 80% occurs 30% faster. Because it uses more nickel, silicon, and less cobalt, the cell itself is more environmentally friendly. According to BMW, the cathode in its battery cell contains 50% less cobalt and the anode has 20% less graphite.
In order to reduce carbon emissions associated with production by 60%, the cells will be made partially from recycled cobalt, nickel, and lithium and created using renewable energy.
BMW’s Plan
Beginning in the middle of the decade, BMW will produce a number of Neue Klasse electric crossover vehicles at its Greer, South Carolina, factory. By 2030, BMW plans to manufacture at least six electric vehicles there, according to the company.
Envision AESC has been contracted by BMW to manufacture Gen 6 battery cells at a new facility in South Carolina in order to supply those vehicles. The factory will have an annual capacity of up to 30 gigawatt hours or enough batteries to power 300,000 EVs.
BMW is experimenting with new technologies including solid-state batteries even as it prepares its next EV batteries for the market.
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