BMW plant in Dingolfing
In Dingolfing, fully electric, highly autonomous luxury SUVs will roll off the assembly line next year.
(Photo: BMW)
Dingolfing BMW accelerates the ramp-up of e-mobility. BMW-Boss Oliver Zipse said on Thursday at the opening of the new battery and electric motor factory in Dingolfing, Lower Bavaria: “As early as 2022, we will be able to manufacture electric drives in Dingolfing alone for over half a million electrified vehicles per year.”
The number of employees has increased from 600 to 1000 since January and will be increased to 2000 in the medium term. Next year, one in four BMWs sold in Europe be a hybrid or electric car, every third in 2022.
Together with the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), Zipse started the production of the fifth generation of BMW electric drives. It has more powerful batteries, works without rare earths and combines the electric motor, power electronics and gearbox in one housing. It will be used for the first time in the fully electric BMW SUV iX3, which will roll off the assembly line in China from September.
BMW has its battery cells manufactured by suppliers, but builds his batteries himself – in the largest European plant in Dingolfing, in the US plant in Spartanburg and in the Chinese plant in Shenyang. In Dingolfing next year, the fully electric, highly autonomous luxury SUV iNext come off the assembly line; a fully electric 7 Series BMW is to follow.
“We are continuing to ramp up electric mobility and are setting standards in the transformation of our industry,” said Zipse. By 2022, the group will invest half a billion euros in Dingolfing. Batteries and electric motors are to be built on eight production lines, and four further lines are already planned.
More: BMW is expanding electrical plans and is planning electric models for the 5 and 7 series.