Signaling its robust dedication to the Wackersdorf location in Higher Palatinate and as a part of its persevering with e-mobility ramp-up, the BMW Group is investing round 100 million euros between now and 2026 in a brand new battery testing heart that will probably be built-in into the location’s present constructing constructions.
The primary deliverables for BMW Group improvement actions within the discipline of high-voltage batteries will go into common operation as early as mid-2024. From then on, throughout a complete space spanning 8,442 m2, high-voltage batteries and different electrical powertrain elements for future BMW Group fashions will probably be put by way of their paces very early in improvement – nicely earlier than the beginning of manufacturing.
“The BMW Group’s Wackersdorf location is about to grow to be a serious facilitator for the transformation in direction of electromobility,” confirms Website Supervisor Christoph Peters, including that the brand new battery testing heart will broaden the muse of the BMW Group web site in Wackersdorf. “Along with supplying our abroad vegetation, cockpit manufacturing and, from 2024, door manufacturing for Rolls-Royce fashions, this may grow to be Wackersdorf’s fourth fundamental space of exercise. This, in flip, strengthens our location’s future viability.”
The round 100-million-euro funding will primarily be centered on advanced take a look at bench expertise and the upgrades to the constructing’s present infrastructure wanted for his or her operation. Corridor 80, positioned on the plant grounds, is at present being remodelled for this function: This constructing, which was initially constructed within the Eighties for the reprocessing facility deliberate on the time, has fairly a historical past. “Now, this storied constructing will grow to be an emblem of our plant’s electrical future,” says Peters.
Structural work is already underway, together with set up of a brand new flooring slab for the constructing. In mid-2024, with commissioning of the primary part, so-called “battery testers” will probably be put into service. From the skin, these resemble giant, relatively insignificant fridges – nonetheless, on the within, they make use of cutting-edge excessive tech. Right here, battery cells will probably be examined around the clock, early of their improvement. Basically, {the electrical} efficiency of particular person battery cells is set throughout charging and discharging below totally different circumstances. This permits use circumstances that will probably be related for purchasers later to be simulated, lengthy earlier than a car below improvement drives on the highway. Parallel testing of a number of hundred battery cells will initially be potential. As soon as the ramp-up is full, testing capability will attain a number of thousand.
Within the closing section from 2025 onwards, the testing heart can even be used to validate the BMW Group’s battery-electric automobiles previous to the official launch of sequence manufacturing and make sure the required premium high quality. This contains subjecting the batteries to vibration and shock checks, as an example, utilizing so-called “shakers” – extremely advanced testing units of which there are at present only some throughout Europe.
Advanced driving patterns, together with charging and discharging cycles, may also be simulated in endurance checks. Checks like these are important for kind approval of electrical automobiles. In some circumstances, country-specific checks should even be accomplished. Capability for such checks within the free market is at present restricted – which is why the BMW Group is creating its personal capability with the brand new battery testing heart in Wackersdorf.
Oct 1, 2023