The BMW Group is expediting its efforts in e-mobility and increasingly relying on regional supply chains, following the principle of “local for local.” The company’s goal is to procure components like battery cells close to vehicle production and gradually localize the supply chain for primary materials.
In order to establish a local supply chain in North America, the BMW Group has enlisted the services of Belgian company Umicore. Umicore will supply cathode active battery materials to our battery cell supplier AESC from a new plant in Ontario, Canada. This is a crucial step in strengthening our regional supply chains and ensuring the expansion of e-mobility.
Aligned with the “local for local” principle, our partner AESC is currently constructing a battery cell factory in Florence, South Carolina. The facility, with an initial capacity of 30 GWh per year, will manufacture cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells specifically designed for the sixth generation of BMW eDrive technology. The production of battery cells and cathode raw materials will exclusively rely on renewable energy sources.
Joachim Post, member of the BMW AG Board of Management responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network, stated, “The BMW Group follows a globally balanced procurement strategy in the three main geographical regions of the world. Our battery cell supplier in the US will now source key primary materials from Canada. We are delighted that Canada is playing a significant role in establishing a robust and efficient battery cell supply chain for the BMW Group in North America.”
In October 2022, Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the BMW AG Board of Management, announced a substantial investment of 1.7 billion US dollars to expand the US production site. As part of this investment, 700 million US dollars will be allocated to building the BMW Group’s new assembly center in Woodruff. This facility will produce high-voltage batteries for the fully-electric BMW X models in the future. In its initial phase, the approximately 93,000 sq. m. facility will focus on manufacturing sixth-generation battery modules and will create around 300 new jobs.
The new sixth-generation battery format will offer an increase in energy density of over 20 percent and improve charging speed and range by up to 30 percent. Additionally, CO2 emissions from cell production will be reduced by up to 60 percent, partly due to cell suppliers sourcing energy from renewable resources and partly due to the utilization of secondary materials for lithium, cobalt, and nickel.
