The BMW Group celebrated a big milestone with the manufacturing of its three-millionth electrified automobile on the Munich plant—a BMW 330e Touring in Portimao Blue, set for the UK market.
In 2024, one in 4 automobiles offered by BMW had been both totally electrical or plug-in hybrids. The corporate has efficiently built-in the manufacturing of electrified automobiles and inner combustion engine fashions on the identical meeting line at its vegetation.
Milan Nedeljković, a Board of Administration member accountable for Manufacturing, acknowledged, “With its extremely versatile manufacturing, the BMW Group can meet buyer calls for primarily based on market tendencies.” He emphasised that the entire firm’s world manufacturing websites are ready for electromobility, supporting development on this sector.
The journey in direction of electrical automobile manufacturing started in 2013 with the launch of the BMW i3 in Leipzig. This electrical metropolis automobile was manufactured for practically a decade alongside the BMW i8, the primary plug-in hybrid from the corporate. Initially, manufacturing of the i3 required a devoted space for electrical automobiles, alongside typical fashions.
Since then, the BMW Group has streamlined the combination of electrical vehicles into its world manufacturing. Initially, many vegetation assembled plug-in hybrids alongside their petrol and diesel counterparts, however by 2024, electromobility accounted for over 25 % of whole manufacturing, with roughly 75 % of those automobiles being totally electrical. The corporate has delivered a complete of 1 and a half million battery electrical automobiles (BEVs) throughout its BMW, MINI, and Rolls-Royce manufacturers.
The extension of the electrical automobile lineup continued in 2019 with the introduction of the MINI Cooper SE in Oxford. The platform expanded additional in 2020 with the most recent e-drives, together with the BMW iX3 produced in China, and the iX and i4 ramping up manufacturing in Dingolfing and Munich in 2021. By this time, all BMW Group vegetation in Germany had been outfitted to fabricate totally electrical automobiles.
Globally, the shift to electrification has been applied in any respect websites in China, whereas the Spartanburg plant within the US prepares to supply totally electrical automobiles beginning in 2026. Moreover, the San Luis Potosí plant in Mexico is about so as to add BEV fashions to its manufacturing in 2027. The Rosslyn plant in South Africa started producing plug-in hybrids in 2024, and native manufacturing websites in Brazil, India, and Thailand additionally engaged in constructing electrified automobiles.
The manufacturing of electrical powertrain elements has expanded past Germany, beginning with battery modules and electrical motors produced in Dingolfing for the reason that i3’s launch. To assist electrification, the Competence Centre for E-Drive Manufacturing was established at this web site and, by 2022, had reached an annual capability of over 500,000 e-drives.
To additional accommodate the rising e-mobility sector, different areas resembling Regensburg, Leipzig, and Spartanburg have progressively ramped up their manufacturing capabilities. The experience gained from these developments is now being utilized to the sixth era of e-drives, set to debut with the NEUE KLASSE on the new plant in Debrecen, Hungary, later this yr.
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