Strengthening Steps Towards Electrification, BMW Invests 100 Million Euros For EV Battery Testing

BMW's battery testing center in Wackersdorf, Upper Saxon, Germany. (Doc. BMW Group)

JAKARTA - BMW Group has taken significant steps on its way to electrification by announcing an investment of 100 million euros, or around IDR 1.6 trillion, to improve its facilities at Wackersdorf, Upper Saxon, Germany.

The facility will serve as a new high-voltage battery testing center, which is scheduled to start operations in mid-2024.

This 8,442 square meter facility will play an important role in the development of high-voltage batteries and other electric powertrain components for future models of the BMW Group. This will be the first step before entering the production stage.

"The BMW Group location in Wackersdorf will be a key player in the transformation towards electric mobility." Work is currently underway, including the installation of new floor plates for the building. Once the first part of the facility is operational, battery testing will begin," said Christoph Peters, BMW Testing Center Manager, in the company's media room, September 29.

Engineers will carry out ongoing testing on indoor battery cells equipped with cutting-edge technology, resembling refrigerators. Electric performance of each battery cell will be evaluated during charging and emptying in a variety of conditions, allowing for real-world use simulations before the prototype vehicle reaches the streets.

In the early stages, this facility will be able to test hundreds of battery cells in parallel, and capacity is expected to be increased to several thousand after the ramp-up development phase.

By 2025, this facility will become a center for the validation of the BMW electric fleet which includes vibrational tests and shocks using special devices.

In addition to battery testing, this facility will also be used for the production of the cockpit and doors for the Rolls-Royce model starting in 2024, which will increase the sustainability of this facility in the future.