Recently, according to Reuters, CATL has confirmed that it will provide cylindrical power batteries for BMW’s electric vehicles from 2025. Currently, CATL has signed an agreement with BMW, but more detailed information has not been disclosed.
At the same time, BMW has not commented on this and it is speculated that BMW will prepare to announce more details by itself in the future.
Currently, CATL has provided BMW with batteries for new energy vehicles for 10 years, and the NCM 811 ternary lithium batteries used in models such as the iX3 and i3 on sale are square batteries.
One of the main reasons why BMW wants to adopt cylindrical batteries is to reduce the cost of power batteries. It is rumored that BMW will use cylindrical batteries to reduce the cost of power batteries by 30% in the Neue Klasse new pure electric platform in 2025.
The Neue Klasse in 2025 can be regarded as the true meaning of BMW’s pure electric platform, and it is only used for pure electric vehicle models. The current CLAR architecture is compatible with three power modes: fuel vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and pure electric vehicles. Therefore, it cannot be regarded as a pure electric architecture in the true sense.
As for battery suppliers, Samsung, CATL, EVE Energy, and Northvolt are on the BMW Group’s cooperation list. Currently, there is news about CATL, and it is unknown whether the batteries of the other three suppliers will be used in other regions in the future.According to Bloomberg, the cost of battery packaging per kWh for car manufacturers last year was $118 (equivalent to RMB 784), accounting for 4/5 of the entire battery cost. With the rising cost of battery raw materials, this cost is a significant portion for the entire vehicle.
Next, we can look forward to whether BMW’s all-electric vehicles using cylindrical batteries under the Neue Klasse architecture can create better performance and longer range at a lower cost. At the same time, BMW will face even more severe challenges from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group by 2025.
Source: insideevs
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.