For the European production of the Neue Klasse models, the German company has built a new plant in Bavaria, intended to churn out a new generation of accumulators
Where there was grass there is now a factory. We can start like this, paraphrasing an old ante litteram environmentalist song by Adriano Celentano, the story of what the new BMW plant, built for the production of the batteries of the eagerly awaited Neue Klasse in a region of Bavaria hitherto characterized by almost exclusively agricultural activities, which we had the opportunity to discover for the first time as part of the Responsibility Days organized by the Bavarian company. This was not a random choice, because even in this case the German manufacturer had to act inspired by the principles of responsibility that govern its conduct: economic responsibility, which conditioned the decision to allocate the important investment to the country and region to which it belongs, discarding more convenient solutions, and social responsibility, because going to build a plant of this scale in an area of small rural villages involved a close dialogue with the local communities, necessary to convince them to give the green light to the operation.
the search for consensus
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The market, however, does not wait: the Neue Classwith its new platform, constitutes an important turning point for BMW, so even the factory destined to produce its batteries had to be developed in a time frame consistent with the program of the new large family of cars. The first thing to do was choose the location of the plant: BMW boasts a strong presence in the so-called Lower Bavariai.e. Lower Bavaria, one of the seven districts into which the German Land of Bavaria is divided, with factories for the production of vehicles in Dingolfing and Regensburg and for the production of components in Landshut and Wackersdorf. Over the last fifty years, the house it created over 30 thousand jobs in the regioncontributing to the transformation of a previously essentially agricultural territory and to the creation of an ecosystem of qualitatively and technologically advanced suppliers and partners. The choice of this area for the construction of a new factory was therefore logical, but it was necessary to obtain the consent of the interested communities first, in particular the inhabitants of Irlbach and Straßkirchenthe two villages closest to the future plant. BMW arrived at the result by activating a long dialogue with residents and their representatives, aimed at dispelling legitimate doubts in terms of environmental and social impact on the area: pollution, traffic, energy consumption, employment impacts constituted the main concerns of the inhabitants, dispelled with explanations, additions to the project, development of alternative solutions, such as for example the provision by the house of numerous buses for the transport of workers, necessary to reduce the use of private vehicles. The final word, however, belonged to a referendumthe outcome of which was not predictable – according to the story of those directly involved – caused the mayors of the two localities and the managers of BMW to lose a few nights’ sleep. But the construction of the new plant on the 105 hectares of land already purchased in February 2023 by the company it was approved in September of the same year by 75.3% of the participants in the popular consultation; this allowed BMW to begin work in April 2024 on the construction of one of its five new plants for the production of sixth generation high-voltage batteries. The other facilities are located in the USA, Mexico, Hungary and China, according to the “local for local” logicwhich involves the production of the necessary components close to the car assembly plants, so as to reduce the carbon impact generated by transport.
quick times
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From that moment, the work proceeded at full speed, as per German practice. At the time of our visit, the entire complex of buildings, including the canteen and the building for the indispensable firefighters, was already completed in less than a year and a half from the start of the construction sites; however, time will still be needed for the finishing touches and, above all, for the installation of the battery production lines, whose activity will begin for the pre-series in the first quarter of 2026 and definitively in October next year. When fully operational (in 2028), 1,600 people will work in the Irlbach-Straßkirchen factoryin the meantime adequately trained for the activity, because operating with high voltage devices requires specific preparation. Two thirds of Bavarian companies and one third located within a radius of 100 kilometers from the construction site participated in the construction of the plant, which considerably reduced transport needs and favored the local economy; its sustainability is ensured by the installation of 4,500 photovoltaic modules, capable of producing up to 6 megawatts of peak energyand by the presence of fire-fighting tanks, each capable of collecting two million liters of rainwater (the production of batteries does not require the use of water).
new generation
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The batteries that will leave the Irlbach-Straßkirchen plant, as well as those of the other dedicated factories, will be of the new generation, the sixth according to the BMW classification, and involve the use of circular cells to be installed directly in the frames, for the benefit of structural rigidity, with two different levels of capacity (not yet declared); working in 800 volt architectures, according to the House they will guarantee the20% more energy density compared to current prismatic cells of fifth generation batteries, 30% faster charging speed, an autonomy of electric cars in turn increased by 30%, 20% better overall vehicle efficiency and 40-50% cost reduction compared to the Gen5 e-Drive System. The battery pack involves the presence of rows of cells, without modules or structures, which are flat and thin, to the benefit of the architecture of the vehicles. The first of which, in the large family of forty planned by BMW on the Neue Klasse platform, will be the iX3, now close to its road debut.
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