BERLIN, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — German auto giant BMW presented a battery cell research center on Thursday to "advance battery cell technology and carefully dissect the production processes."
According to BMW, total investments for the research center in Munich, where 200 people will be employed, are 200 million euros (219.9 million U.S. dollars).
Battery cell technology is a "key success factor" for BMW vehicle fleet because it affects both the operational performance of cars as well as battery costs, said Oliver Zipse, chief executive officer of BMW.
BMW announced that it would not manufacture the battery cells itself but would only develop batteries specially tailored to the needs of its cars in cooperation with the battery manufacturers. Furthermore, scientists at the facility would research new materials to produce battery cells.
Employee representatives at the BMW Group would be "actively involved" with the aim of developing expertise within the company to secure jobs "for the long term during the process of transformation", said Stefan Schmid, deputy chairman of the Joint Works Council at BMW.
Earlier this year, BMW announced plans to double its sales of electric vehicles by 2021. By 2023, BMW is seeking to offer 25 electric vehicles including the new SUV ix3, scheduled to go into production in Chinese city of Shenyang in 2021.
So far, the Bavarian car maker BMW and subsidiary Mini combined are offering ten electrified models, most of which are hybrid vehicles. In November, BMW started production of its Mini with a pure electric drive in British city Oxford.