BMW wants its electric cars to exceed 700 kilometres of range

BMW has invested more than 200 million euros in a battery research centre.

A few months ago, Volkswagen invested more than 20,000 million euros in the development of electric batteries. The news was a real revolution in the market, since the German group was making a real statement regarding sustainable mobility. As expected, its main rivals in the market were not going to sit idly by: BMW has invested 200 million euros in a battery research centre for electric cars located in Munich. The manufacturer’s aim with this offensive is for its electric cars to exceed 700 kilometres of range.

BMW’s investment in its new electric battery centre does not come close, in economic terms, to that of the VAG group, but it must not be forgotten that the Munich-based firm has a lot of work ahead of it in this regard. So far this year, BMW has sold more than 78,000 electrified vehicles, which makes it the world’s largest seller of this type of vehicle.

The new research centre of BMW will open in 2019. Around 200 people will work in this facility with the aim of researching new chemistries that will allow the energy density of electric batteries to be increased. These were the words of Klaus Frohlich, head of R&D at BMW, regarding the new battery research centre:

“We will concentrate all our internal expertise in our new high-tech research centre. The international experts working in the new development laboratories and facilities will carry out important research to refine cell chemistry and design. We will focus on further improvements in battery performance, service life, safety, charging and also costs. We will set a benchmark for the industry”.

BMW’s plans involve offering a fully electrified range by 2025. By then, the German firm should have a total of 12 100% electric vehicles, including the upcoming BMW i5, an electric saloon that will compete directly with the Tesla Model 3 and will reach the market in 2020.