BMW Group said Friday it will enter a new e-mobility era from 2025 supported by a huge leap in battery technology and partnerships in China, Europe and the North American free trade zone (USMCA).

The German carmaker announced it will use newly developed cylindrical battery cells optimised for the new NEUE KLASSE BEV architecture. The sixth-generation lithium-ion cells are set to improve charging speed by 30%, enhance range by up to 30% and reduce cell production carbon footprint by up to 60%. Better yet, the costs of the high-voltage batteries are estimated to shrink by 50% compared to the current fifth-generation cells, Kallanish reports.  

The “new BMW round cells” will be produced in six locations, under double-digit billion-euro contracts with partners including CATL and EVE Energy. Each company will build two 20-gigawatt-hour plants – one in Europe and one in China. A third partner for the remaining two gigafactories is yet to be established, BMW Group says.

The carmaker explains the cells will have a standard 46 millimetres diameter and two different heights. Nickel content will be higher on the cathode side than in fifth-generation BMW cylindrical cells, with lower cobalt content. On the anode side, these cells will have more silicon, which increases volumetric energy density by 20%.

The NEUE KLASSE EVs, coming to the market from 2025, will have battery, drive train and charging technology with a higher voltage of 800 volts. This will optimise and reduce charging time. In some models, the battery system will be integrated into the installation space to save space (pack to open body), eliminating the need for cell module level.

Additionally, BMW Group says the batteries will have secondary material content (recycled metals) and be produced with renewable power. Cobalt and lithium are to be sourced from certified mines. 

The sixth-generation battery technology can also use cathodes made of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) for the first time. This would mean zero cobalt and nickel in the cathode material.

BMW Group also says it’s pushing forward with development of all-solid-state batteries and should achieve series production by the end of the decade. A demonstrator vehicle running on this technology is expected “well before 2025.”