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Production expertise – High-voltage batteries and cells.

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Production expertise – High-voltage batteries and cells.

From inception to production and recycling: the BMW Group replicates the entire high-voltage battery and battery cell value chain in-house – in its centres of excellence and with a holistic approach.

Our Battery Cell Competence Centre in Munich carries out research into new cell technologies – for which our excellence centre for battery production develops manufacturing methods. The focus of our experts is on producing top-quality battery cells with minimum resources.

And that’s not all: the BMW Group also operates a Centre of Excellence for Battery Cell Recycling, which uses an innovative direct recycling process to recover valuable raw materials from used batteries and return them to production. A major step towards a circular economy.

Battery cells are a key component of any high-voltage battery, but before they can enter large-scale production, the right production processes have to be engineered to make them, and pre-series batteries undergo rigorous testing. At the BMW Group, this is done at pilot plants in Munich itself and in nearby Parsdorf and Hallbergmoos.

Find out more about these key locations here. 

Battery Cell Competence Centre (BCCC), Munich.

The BCCC in the north of Munich develops future generations of high-voltage batteries and carries out small-scale production. Thanks to our state-of-the-art labs, research facilities and prototype engineering, our expertise encompasses the entire battery cell value chain.

A crucial role in all of this falls to artificial intelligence, and in cooperation with the University of Zagreb, we are developing data-driven processes to increase precision in workflows and streamline production more generally. Our BCCC is developing into a future lab for electromobility and an authority in research and advancement.

Address BCCC Munich.

BMW Group Battery Cell Competence Centre (BCCC)
Lemgostraße 7, 80935 Munich
Telephone: +49 89 382-0

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Cell Manufacturing Competence Centre (CMCC), Parsdorf.

A man in a blue jacket works on a machine to improve its functions.

Address CMCC Parsdorf.

BMW Group Cell Manufacturing Competence Centre Parsdorf (CMCC)
Am Gewerbepark 1
85599 Vaterstetten
E-Mail: Visit.Parsdorf1@bmw.de

The best battery cells from the BCCC are then manufactured on a pilot production line at the CMCC and scaled up for series production. The facility, which has about 15,000 square metres of floor space, produces prototypes of the battery cells that will soon be powering the Neue Klasse models. It replicates the entire production chain, from the manufacture of electrodes to production of the finished cell. The aim is to test the new technologies in a realistic production environment and enhance them for large-scale series production.

Cell manufacturing: Production stages in prototype production at the CMCC.

The first step in cell manufacturing is electrode production. Exact doses of the basic materials – including graphite for the anodes and nickel oxides for the cathodes – are mixed with binders and solvents to create what’s known as slurry. This is then used to coat wafer-thin metallic foils. Once dry, the foils are compressed in a process called calendering. This requires absolute precision as the foils and coating are just a few micrometres thick – thinner than the strands of a spider’s web.

In cell assembly the coated foils (electrodes) are layered with separators and wound into jelly rolls. These are then placed into the cell casing, filled with electrolyte and sealed. The battery cell is then charged for the first time and undergoes function and quality testing.

Cell Recycling Competence Centre (CRCC), Salching.

As electromobility takes hold, the focus is increasingly shifting to battery cell recycling. At the CRCC the BMW Group and its joint venture Encory are taking a process called direct recycling onstream. The innovative methodology allows residues from battery cell production and complete battery cells to be mechanically dismantled to access their precious constituents. The raw materials recovered in this way are then returned straight to pilot production of battery cells in the BMW Group’s excellence centres for battery cells.

The experience gained at the CRCC provides the foundation for new and intelligent industrial-scale recycling strategies. After the BCC and the CMCC, the CRCC represents the next step in the BMW Group’s battery cell strategy, which is working towards the circular economy.

Address CRCC Salching.

BMW Group Cell Recycling Competence Centre Salching (CRCC)
Industriestraße 20
94330 Salching

Raw materials from battery cells for direct recycling.

High-Voltage Battery Pilot Plants.

The BMW Group’s Neue Klasse heralds a new era in fully electric driving – and the ability to produce powerful high-voltage batteries will be fundamental to its success. Five assembly plants are currently under construction on three continents: Irlbach-Straßkirchen (Lower Bavaria), Debrecen (Hungary), Shenyang (China), San Luis Potosí (Mexico) and Woodruff (US).

Before large-scale series production can launch, suitable manufacturing processes must be developed and pre-series batteries tested. This is happening at the pilot plants in Munich and in nearby Parsdorf and Hallbergmoos. Here’s a closer look at these three facilities.

A woman with blonde hair and a control unit stands in the middle of a battery cell room, surrounded by several machines.

Parsdorf.

Parsdorf is the BMW Group’s largest pilot plant for high-voltage batteries. The 350-strong team first started producing battery packs in summer 2023. To make sure they meet the rigorous quality standards in development and, later, in series production, the battery packs undergo a multitude of tests. Some of the high-voltage batteries made in Parsdorf are already powering Neue Klasse test cars.

Address.

Am Gewerbepark 1, 85599 Vaterstetten

Hallbergsmoos.

Another pre-series plant for high-voltage batteries is located in Hallbergmoos, not far from Munich Airport. Since the summer of 2024, this facility has been developing production technologies for high-voltage battery assembly. The team of about 200 people are working on technologies for producing larger battery derivatives, probably at Plant Woodruff in the US.

Address.

Am Söldnermoos 21, 85399 Hallbergmoos

Die Luftaufnahmeansicht des Pilotwerks in München.

Munich (AEC).

High-voltage battery prototypes are also manufactured and tested at the recently opened Aeroacoustic and E-Drive Centre (AEC) in the Research and Innovation Centre in Munich. Here, a team of about 200 work across several floors, with a further space offering clean-room conditions for the pilot production line for inverters. The inverters being made here will be a key component in forthcoming electric drives, converting direct current from the high-voltage battery into alternative current to drive the electric motor.

Address.

Knorrstraße 147, 80788 Munich

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