FILE PHOTO: The BMW logo is seen on the second press day of the Paris auto show, in Paris, France, October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
HAMBURG (Reuters) – German luxury carmaker BMW has applied for state funding of research and development in the field of battery cells, a spokesman said on Friday, adding this does not mean the company aims to produce them itself.
Germany has earmarked 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion) to support a consortium looking to produce electric car battery cells and plans to fund a research facility to develop next-generation solid-state batteries.
The BMW spokesman said that the funding application would not necessarily lead to the carmaker participating in a consortium.
Reporting by Jan Schwartz; writing by Thomas Seythal; editing by Christoph Steitz