The BMW Group is forging ahead with ‘electro-mobility’ and ‘deepening’ its existing business relationships with battery cell manufacturers CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, China) and Samsung SDI.

The original CATL ‘order volume’ of 4 billion euros (announced in mid-2018) will now be increased to 7.3 billion euros (contract duration from 2020 to 2031), with 4.5 billion euros for the BMW Group and 2.8 billion euros for the Chinese production site of the BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd (BBA) joint venture in Shenyang.

The BMW Group will also be the first customer of the CATL battery cell plant currently under construction in Erfurt (Germany).

BMW board member Andreas Wendt said: “We played an active part in establishing CATL in Germany.”

The BMW Group has also signed a long-term supply contract for its fifth-generation electric-drive trains with its second battery-cell supplier, Samsung SDI.

The contract, worth some 2.9 billion euros, extends from 2021 to 2031.

Speaking at a supplier event in Seoul (South Korea), Dr Wendt said: “We are securing our long-term battery cell needs.

“Every cell generation is awarded in global competition to the leading manufacturer from both a technology and a business perspective.

“This ensures that we always have access to the best-possible cell technology.”

The BMW Group (www.bmwgroup.com) will source the cobalt needed as a key raw material for cell production directly from mines in Australia and Morocco and make it available to CATL and Samsung SDI.

The same applies to lithium, which the BMW Group will also source directly from mines, including some in Australia.

The BMW Group has extensive in-house expertise for battery-cell technology, with production undertaken at its plants in Dingolfing (Germany) and Spartanburg (USA), and at the BBA plant in Shenyang (China).

The BMW Group has also localised battery production in Thailand, and last month it opened a Battery Cell Competence Centre in Munich.

The BMW Group has also formed a joint technology consortium with Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt and the Belgian developer of battery materials Umicore.

The co-operation will focus on creating a complete and sustainable value chain for battery cells in Europe, extending from development and production through to recycling.

BMW says that it will have 25 electrified models in its line-up by 2023.