BMW Group Newsroom Canada

[1] The figure provided is a preliminary forecast value. The final figure will be published with the Vehicle Footprint (VFP) prior to the Start of Production (SOP).

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

From end-of-life vehicles to new cars: Car2Car research project demonstrates feasibility of high-quality material loops on an industrial scale

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0200

Munich. Through the Car2Car research project, the BMW Group and its consortium partners have demonstrated that high-quality material loops are technically feasible in the automotive industry. Under expanded processing and sorting conditions, it was possible to increase the “Car2Car rate” from six to 51 percent. The “Car2Car rate”, as defined by the project, is the percentage of materials from an end-of-life vehicle that can, in principle, be recovered at high enough quality for reuse in new industrial applications. Particularly high recovery potentials were achieved for steel, aluminium and copper, whereas significant technological challenges remain for plastics and glass. At the same time, the project demonstrates which conditions, investments and regulatory frameworks will be necessary to further scale high-quality material loops in the future. The results are based on a research and demonstration approach under optimal processing and sorting conditions.

Sorting and processing unlock high-quality material loops

Various recovery scenarios were explored as part of the research project. The findings show that additional processing and sorting steps can significantly increase the potential of high-quality material loops. The steps include improved pre-sorting, modified shredding processes, classification, sensor-based sorting of material streams and more precise separation of aluminium alloys. Using methods currently standard in the market, the project achieved a “Car2Car rate” of six percent across all five focus material groups during a vehicle recycling trial with minimal compulsory dismantling. With the help of advanced process engineering and optimised processing routes, the rate climbed to 51 percent. Under these conditions, the “Car2Car rate” increased from one to 81 percent for steel, from 23 to 52 percent for aluminium and from 48 to 68 percent for copper.

The findings confirm the considerable potential for high-quality material loops, especially for metals. At the same time, the results clearly demonstrate that this potential cannot be applied equally across all material groups. Specifically, further development is required for plastics and glass. To achieve large-scale industrial implementation, additional investments will be needed in disassembly, sorting and recycling infrastructure, as well as corresponding regulatory frameworks.

Steel shows potential of high-quality material loops

The project’s key findings are illustrated by the example of steel. Up until now, copper-bearing impurities from cables, connectors and other components have hindered the recycling of end-of-life vehicle scrap into high-quality automotive steels. The Car2Car project has now demonstrated that an additional processing step can substantially improve scrap quality. Copper contamination was reduced in a targeted manner by sorting the steel scrap. This ensures high-quality steel scrap as the starting material for new flat steel that meets the requirements of modern automotive applications. A patent application has been filed for this process.

The so-called steel coils produced using this method were integrated into industrial production following successful material and quality testing. In a field test conducted at BMW Group Plant Leipzig, more than 100,000 series parts were produced for use in vehicles. The project thus demonstrates, along a real industrial value chain, that new vehicle components can be manufactured from end-of-life vehicles. However, for large-scale industrial implementation, scalable process chains, additional infrastructure and viable business models are still needed.

Huge potential for metals, further development needed for plastics and glass

At the same time, the project highlighted that progress towards a circular economy varies, depending on the material and the technology available. While recycling processes are already in place for metals such as steel, aluminium and copper, there is still a lack of solutions for plastics and glass that meet the automotive industry's high quality standards.

The wide variety of materials, complex composite material structures and stringent quality requirements make it difficult to produce high-quality recyclates for high-end automotive applications. For plastics, in particular, it has become evident that precisely tailored process chains comprising various sorting and processing technologies will be needed in the future to consistently achieve the material quality necessary for automotive material loops.

Insights for next-generation circular vehicle concepts

The findings from Car2Car will feed into further development of the BMW Group's circular economy, confirming its established Design for Circularity approaches. They will also help design vehicles even more systematically for high-quality material loops. Cooperation with end-of-life vehicle recycling partners, such as PreZero, can also benefit from the experience gained through this project.

Beyond the BMW Group and the participating project partners, the Car2Car findings also provide an important data basis for further development of the entire automotive recycling landscape. In the context of future regulatory requirements, such as the European ELV Regulation, Car2Car illustrates which technological, economic and structural conditions must be created to enable higher material recovery rates and closed material loops. This includes innovation and investment in disassembly, sorting and recycling technologies, increased digitalisation and framework conditions that promote transparency, quality and the return of materials to European material loops.

Car2Car does not focus on what is already standard today but highlights the potential that high-quality material loops could offer in the future. Whether this potential will be realised depends not only on technical feasibility, but also on factors such as access to end-of-life vehicles, favourable market conditions, investment and viable business models throughout the entire recycling value chain.

Quotes

“The circular economy is an integral part of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy. Car2Car shows that its full potential can be realised when the entire value chain is optimised. Together with our partners, we are using the project findings to develop new process and business models that combine environmental and economic benefits, and advance the transition towards a circular automotive industry.”
Alexander Efthimiou, Senior Vice President Business Development, BMW Group

“With Car2Car, we wanted to understand under which conditions materials from end-of-life vehicles can be reused in new cars. The project has shown the potential in current material streams from end-of-life vehicles that have not yet been optimised for high-quality material loops. The most significant progress was seen with steel: We were able to demonstrate that high-quality flat steel for automotive applications can be produced from end-of-life vehicle scrap. In the field test at BMW Group Plant Leipzig, more than 100,000 series parts were produced using this steel and installed in vehicles – making the project’s results tangible.”
Hilke Schaer, Car2Car project manager, BMW Group

Broad consortium spanning the entire value chain

The Car2Car research project brings together partners from the automotive industry, materials manufacturing, the recycling industry and academia. The aim was to investigate the recovery of materials from end-of-life vehicles for use in new automotive applications along the entire value chain. A further objective was to identify suitable process routes for high-quality material loops.

The consortium included BMW AG, TU Bergakademie Freiberg (MVTAT, IEST and IGT institutes), the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (part of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)), Technical University of Munich (Professorship of Circular Economy, Chair of Materials Handling, Material Flow and Logistics (fml) and the Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management (iwb)), Scholz Recycling, STEINERT UniSort, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung, Aurubis, Novelis Germany, OETINGER Aluminium and Pilkington Automotive Germany.

The final report of the full Car2Car consortium is available for download here. The BMW Group-specific final report can be found here.

FAQ:

What is the Car2Car research project?
Car2Car is a research project focused on the recovery of materials from end-of-life vehicles for use in new automotive applications. It investigated under which conditions high-quality material loops are possible along the automotive value chain.

What was the project's key finding?
The key finding was that it was possible to increase the “Car2Car rate” from six to 51 percent under expanded processing and sorting conditions. Particularly high recovery potentials were achieved for steel, aluminium and copper. A key factor is that these results were achieved without dismantling end-of-life vehicles beyond the compulsory disassembly currently standard in the industry before recycling.

What does the “Car2Car rate” mean?
The “Car2Car rate” refers to the percentage of materials from an end-of-life vehicle that can, in principle, be recovered at high enough quality for reuse in new automotive applications. It is therefore more than just a conventional recycling rate. The decisive factor is not just whether a material can be recycled, but whether it can be returned to the automotive material loop with a comparable level of quality.

Which materials were the main focus?
The main focus of the project was on steel, aluminium and copper. Potential and limits for plastics and glass were also considered.

Why is steel particularly relevant?
In the case of steel, it was possible to demonstrate that just one additional processing step, in the form of sorting, can reduce copper-bearing impurities, resulting in high-quality steel scrap. This was then used to produce flat steel for modern automotive applications.

Have the results been tested on an industrial scale?
Yes. In the field test at BMW Group Plant Leipzig, more than 100,000 series parts were produced from recovered steel and then installed in vehicles. In this way, it was possible to demonstrate, along a real-world industrial value chain, that new vehicle components can be produced from end-of-life vehicles. However, this industrial field test does not yet mean that the relevant recycling and processing processes are widely available on the market.

How many end-of-life vehicles were examined in the field test?

The field test covered 433 vehicles from 60 different BMW Group models, including test vehicles that were less than five years old.

Where is further development needed?
Comparable progress has not been achieved with plastics and glass to the same extent as with steel, aluminium and copper. Further innovation is required in areas such as vehicle design, disassembly, sorting and recycling.

Overview of key findings

Material stream	“Car2Car rates” under research conditions
Steel	“Car2Car rate” increases from 1 to 81 percent.
Aluminium	“Car2Car rate” increases from 23 to 52 percent.
Copper	“Car2Car rate” increases from 48 to 68 percent.
Overall system	“Car2Car rate” increases from 6 to 51 percent.
Industrial application field test	Over 100,000 series parts from recovered Car2Car steel produced at BMW Group Plant Leipzig and installed in vehicles.

If you have any questions, please contact:

BMW Group
Communications

Isabel Richter

Press spokesperson

Head of Sustainability Communications BMW Group

Telephone: +49-151-601-53189

Email: Isabel.Richter@bmw.de

The BMW Group

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/bmw-group/

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

First glimpse into production: BMW Group Plant Woodruff assembles high-voltage batteries for the new BMW iX5

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:00:00 +0200

Woodruff, South Carolina, USA. In December, the new BMW Group Plant Woodruff will begin series production of high-voltage batteries for the new fully-electric BMW iX5. As part of the vehicle’s world premiere, the company offered a first glimpse of its state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. With AI-supported production processes, digital twins and virtual reality applications, the new plant is setting industry standards for the assembly of high-voltage batteries.

Site strengthens electromobility in the US and footprint in South Carolina

“Plant Woodruff plays a key role in the ramp-up of electromobility in the US,” said Raymond Wittman, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Production. “With our Gen6 high-voltage battery, we’re not only taking a major technological leap – we are also setting new standards in production. In Woodruff, we are combining cutting-edge processes, artificial intelligence and the expertise of our employees to create a production facility designed for the highest quality.”

“With Plant Woodruff, we are further expanding our footprint in South Carolina and strengthening the close integration of battery and vehicle production,” said Robert Engelhorn, President and CEO of BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC. “This creates the ideal foundation for the next generation of fully electric BMW X models assembled at Plant Spartanburg.”

Intelligent production for maximum quality

The BMW Group has established state-of-the-art, intelligent and efficient production processes for its in-house developed sixth-generation (Gen6) high-voltage battery. The new cylindrical round cells are integrated directly into the high-voltage battery, based on the “cell-to-pack” principle. All production steps are continuously monitored inline and comprehensively documented in real time. In-house developed AI assistants and agents analyse this data and, together with more than 300 employees and 250 robots at Plant Woodruff, ensure the zero-defect battery production. At the same time, the extensive use of artificial intelligence enhances Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) in production. Well before commissioning, digital twins of production and virtual reality applications support planning and employee training.

Training in a virtual factory

All production staff at Plant Woodruff complete a VR training program developed on site. Within a virtual factory, they can practice real manufacturing operations under realistic conditions. This virtual environment replicates the plant’s production lines in meticulous detail, requiring only a set of VR goggles and a PC. The training helps employees develop an understanding of relevant processes and builds confidence in operating the equipment before using the actual manufacturing systems for the first time.

Just three years from start of construction to series production

Following the official groundbreaking in June 2023, construction of the new plant began in September 2023. In September 2024, while construction was still under way, installation of the manufacturing equipment commenced. Preparations for production started in summer 2025, and the first test and pre-series batteries have been rolling off the assembly line since then. The series launch is scheduled for December 2026. “Plant Woodruff demonstrates how quickly we can scale a new battery concept to industrial production,” said Rich Everly, Vice President of Production at BMW Group Plant Woodruff. “The key factor is the synergy between a skilled and dedicated team and the continuous exchange of experience within the production network.”

Gen6 battery cells with reduced carbon footprint

The Gen6 battery cells used in the BMW iX5’s high-voltage battery include a high proportion of secondary materials in the cobalt, lithium and nickel content. Renewable energy is also used in the production of anode and cathode materials, as well as in cell manufacturing. Compared with the Gen5 cell used in the BMW iX, CO₂e emissions have been reduced by around 28 percent per watt-hour. Plant Woodruff does not use any fossil fuels during normal operations, while the site’s industrial trucks are powered by hydrogen.

Global production strategy: local for local

Installation of the Gen6 high-voltage batteries takes place at five new production facilities, which the BMW Group is building close to its vehicle plants, in line with its “local for local” principle. In addition to Woodruff, state-of-the-art high-voltage battery assembly plants are also being built in Irlbach-Straßkirchen (Lower Bavaria), Shenyang (China) and San Luis Potosí (Mexico). The latest generation of high-voltage batteries has been in series production in Debrecen, Hungary, since October 2025. This “local for local” approach strengthens regional infrastructure and existing facilities and helps secure jobs. The global production network for high-voltage batteries benefits from close collaboration between the German pilot plants and series production facilities worldwide.

How the BMW Group assembles its Gen6 high-voltage batteries

The BMW Group sources battery cells for its high-voltage batteries from leading cell manufacturers. The highest technical standards apply. Upon receipt of goods, additional measurements – such as voltage checks – are carried out. Next comes so-called cell clustering, where the battery cells are connected to coolers. This step ensures optimal insulation and cooling of the cells. The cell clusters and cell contact system are then laser-cleaned and welded with pinpoint precision. The inline inspection continuously monitors each weld seam in real time. An innovative foaming process follows, ensuring that all elements are protected as a mechanical unit. The hardened foam guarantees the safety, stability and durability of the high-voltage battery. The housing is then closed, sealed and riveted. In the final assembly step, the Energy Master – the central control unit – is installed onto the high-voltage battery. A permanently elastic sealing adhesive is applied to ensure a reliable seal. Finally, each high-voltage battery undergoes a 100% end-of-line inspection. From Woodruff, the high-voltage batteries are transported to Plant Spartanburg, located just 15 miles away.

The BMW iX5's high-voltage battery: 800-volt, with high energy content

The first battery-electric BMW iX5 is based on sixth-generation BMW eDrive technology, featuring round cells and 800-volt technology. With an available energy content of 144 kWh in the US and 141 kWh in the EU (net), the BMW iX5 60 xDrive boasts the largest high-voltage battery of any fully-electric BMW model to date. Propulsion is provided by e-drives on both the front and rear axles, and by the electric BMW xDrive all-wheel drive.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group extends holistic sustainability approach to new BMW X5

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0200

Munich. With the new BMW X5, the BMW Group is systematically extending its holistic approach to sustainability to additional vehicle derivatives. The aim is to further optimise the entire vehicle lifecycle and minimise its carbon footprint – from the supply chain and production, through to the use phase and, ultimately, recycling.

Supply chain decarbonisation as key lever
Targeted decarbonisation throughout the supply chain is a key lever for reducing CO₂e emissions. The BMW Group is focusing in particular on renewable energy and secondary materials, as well as product and process innovations. Its holistic approach to sustainability is being applied across all X5 drivetrain variants.
The impact of this approach is reflected in the CO₂e reductions achieved: during the product development process, CO₂e emissions of the BMW X5 were reduced by around 40 percent.[1][2]
A further advance is the increased use of CO₂e-reduced flat steel for the body. Around 50 percent of the flat steel used in the BMW X5 is electric arc furnace steel (EAF steel) with a high proportion of secondary material, produced using renewable energy. The high share of CO₂e-reduced flat steel is the result of close, long-standing collaboration with local suppliers in North America.

Systematic use of secondary materials
The new BMW X5 achieves a high proportion of secondary raw materials, even in heavy-duty components. These include aluminium suspension components such as wheel rims, swivel bearings, wheel supports, rear axle supports and brake callipers, which are manufactured using renewable energy for both electrolysis and production. The aluminium used for the doors of the new BMW X5 contains 35 percent recycled and closed-loop material from BMW Spartanburg’s press shop. The base material used for the yarn of the headliner fabric is made from 100 percent recycled PET. In the battery-electric BMW iX5 60 xDrive, around one third of the total vehicle is made up of secondary raw materials, equivalent to a weight of 940 kilograms.[3]

Gen6 battery cells with reduced carbon footprint
The Gen6 battery cells used in the BMW iX5’s high-voltage battery include a high proportion of secondary materials in the cobalt, lithium and nickel content. Renewable energy is also used in the production of anode and cathode materials, as well as in cell manufacturing. Compared with the Gen5 cell used in the BMW iX, CO₂e emissions have been reduced by around 28 percent per watt-hour.

Efficiency during use phase
With its EfficientDynamics technology package, the BMW Group optimises vehicle efficiency across all relevant subsystems during the use phase. This includes aerodynamics, lightweight construction, low rolling resistance wheels and tyres, and overall energy management. EfficientDynamics has been used by the BMW Group across all drive technologies since 2007. The new fully electric BMW iX5 also features the familiar “Heart of Joy” from the BMW iX3 and BMW i3, with the BMW Dynamic Performance Control driving stack developed entirely in-house. With effortless, confident drivability and a particularly smooth stopping experience, the system also enhances efficiency: during deceleration, more energy is recovered through recuperation in significantly more driving situations, right down to a standstill.

CO₂e advantage achievable after approximately one to two years of use
Comprehensive decarbonisation measures across the supply chain, production and use phase result in an early breakeven point. Depending on the drivetrain variant, annual mileage and source of the electricity used for charging, the new BMW iX5 60 xDrive achieves a CO₂e advantage over a comparable model with an internal combustion engine after approximately one to two years of use.

Production at largest BMW Group plant
The BMW Group’s holistic approach to sustainability also extends to vehicle manufacturing at its largest production site, Plant Spartanburg. All external power required for production at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg comes from renewable sources.
Between 2006 and 2025, energy consumption per produced vehicle decreased by 66 percent. The volume of waste sent to landfills was also reduced by 88 percent over the same period. The newly built high-voltage battery assembly plant in Woodruff, which is connected to the main plant, runs entirely without fossil fuels in normal operation.

TÜV-validated Product Carbon Footprint publicly available
The BMW Group will publish the Product Carbon Footprint for the BMW X5, validated by the German Technical Inspection Association (TÜV), to accompany the series launch. The report, including the underlying calculation methodology, will be publicly available. In this way, the BMW Group provides transparency regarding the raw materials used and CO₂e emissions across the vehicle’s entire lifecycle.

If you have any questions, please contact:

BMW Group Corporate Communications

Dr. Cornelia Bovensiepen, Head of Communications Product Sustainability

Telephone: +49 151 601 94935

Email: Cornelia.Bovensiepen@bmw.de

Media website: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

Email: presse@bmwgroup.com

The BMW Group

In 2025, the BMW Group sold 2.46 million passenger vehicles and more than 202,500 motorcycles worldwide. Profit before tax in the financial year 2025 was €10.2 billion on revenues amounting to €133.5 billion. As of 31 December 2025, the BMW Group had a workforce of 154,540 employees.

www.bmwgroup.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/bmw-group/

[1] The figure provided is a preliminary forecast value for the X5 40d xDrive and iX5 60 xDrive. The final figure will be published with the Vehicle Footprint (VFP) prior to the Start of Production (SOP).

[2] The reduction is based on a comparison with industry averages from an internationally recognized LCA database. The figure provided is a preliminary forecast value. The final figure will be published with the Vehicle Footprint (VFP) prior to the Start of Production (SOP).

[3] The figure provided is a preliminary forecast value. The final figure will be published with the Vehicle Footprint (VFP) prior to the Start of Production (SOP).

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Neue Klasse vehicles are becoming a central component of the home energy ecosystem: BMW and SOLARWATT are expanding their partnership.

Mon, 18 May 2026 09:00:00 +0200

Munich/Dresden. BMW and SOLARWATT are further expanding their collaboration in the field of smart energy and home charging solutions.

With the launch of the first models in the Neue Klasse, the BMW iX3 and the BMW i3, BMW is beginning the rollout of its bidirectional charging technology.

Following Germany’s first commercial Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) offering - available since March 2026 - the next logical step for Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) is now being taken: BMW iX3 and BMW i3 customers can now make even more extensive use of this new technology in their vehicles.

With the increasing electrification of mobility and customer households, new opportunities are emerging for holistic energy optimization and the integration of both ecosystems.

As part of this, BMW and SOLARWATT are optimizing the integration of the electric vehicle into the customer’s household. To this end, the SOLARWATT Manager home energy management system (HEMS) will serve as the link between both ecosystems in the future.

The SOLARWATT HEMS handles the central and intelligent control and optimization of energy flows in the household via coordinated and communicating components. This efficiently optimizes the generation, storage, and consumption of energy.

The electric vehicle is seamlessly integrated into the interaction between the photovoltaic system (PV system), home storage, and consumers in the home as an additional storage unit.

This home network integration is made possible by combining BMW Neue Klasse models with the bidirectional BMW Wallbox Professional, which not only charges the vehicle but can also feed energy back into the home when needed.

The market launch for the integration of bidirectional BMW vehicles into SOLARWATT’s new HEMS for Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) applications is planned for late 2026 in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

BMW and SOLARWATT have been collaborating in the field of electromobility since 2013. In 2021, the two partners also launched a home storage system featuring a battery module that incorporates components also used in the BMW Group’s electric vehicles. Since 2025, the successor model, SOLARWATT Battery vision, has been available, with its housing and design created by BMW Designworks USA.

Smart Connectivity: Energy Management and Home Network Integration in perfect harmony

Since the launch of the Neue Klasse, BMW has relied on Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) technology as a gateway to bidirectional charging, the use of solar energy, and the reduction of energy costs.

The offering is now being expanded to include home network integration for optimal energy management. This marks a significant advancement for V2H applications. The intelligent interaction of all components (BMW electric vehicle, BMW Wallbox Professional, HEMS from SOLARWATT, home storage, and other consumers) creates a holistic system that not only optimizes self-consumption but also takes the flexibility and efficiency of the home energy supply to a new level.

Homeowners control their settings via the My BMW App and the SOLARWATT Home app. With the V2H option, the electric car serves as additional storage for surplus solar power generated by the PV system. In addition to optimizing the interaction of all components, the SOLARWATT Manager allows for the integration of dynamic electricity rates and the incorporation of solar forecasts to further optimize charging and discharging processes, further reduce energy costs, and increase self-sufficiency.

The SOLARWATT Manager is designed to be open: In addition to SOLARWATT's product range, home storage systems from other brands can also be integrated. This creates a flexible home energy system that can be expanded in stages.

Overall Optimization: Electric Car Complements Home Battery Storage

“Drivers of a Neue Klasse electric car like the BMW iX3 can use the additional storage to make even more efficient use of self-generated solar power, increase self-consumption, and thus reduce their reliance on expensive grid electricity. For many homeowners, the prospect of expanding an existing home battery storage system with an electric car is highly attractive. This significantly increases the benefits of one’s own PV system, lowers electricity costs, and makes the home even less dependent on purchasing electricity from the grid,” says SOLARWATT CPO Peter Bachmann.

“At the same time, bidirectional charging holds enormous potential for the energy transition, as the batteries of electric vehicles collectively form a massive storage reserve. If this flexibility is intelligently integrated into energy markets and households, it can help relieve the strain on power grids, better integrate renewable energy, and make additional storage capacity available quickly and cost-effectively,” says Marcus Krieg, Vice President New Business at the BMW Group.

Market Launch and Future Strategic Direction

Following the next public milestone at Intersolar (The Smarter E), the focus is on the phased implementation of the next project milestones leading up to the market launch at the end of this year.

BMW and SOLARWATT consistently place the customer and their entire ecosystem at the center of their efforts. The partners aim to enable seamless and reliable interaction between all components in the home and in the vehicle. In doing so, they create a consistent, integrated customer experience and strengthen their position as leading companies in the field of connected vehicle and home usage.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

The new BMW i7: Sustainability in the product and its production.

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0200

Munich. In line with its sustainability strategy, the BMW Group is once again systematically leveraging product sustainability innovations in the new BMW 7 Series. This is evident, for example, in the use of a new battery cell technology and a higher percentage of secondary material in the wheel rims. These measures represent a targeted further development, applying proven sustainability approaches to another BMW model.

Sixth-generation (Gen6) battery cells in the new BMW i7: Measures to reduce CO₂e in core component.
Essential levers for reducing supply chain CO₂e emissions include increased use of secondary materials and renewable energies, in combination with selected product and process innovations.
Gen6 battery cells for the BMW i7’s high-voltage battery are manufactured exclusively using energy from renewable sources. The same applies to production of the necessary anode and cathode active material. Cell production also relies in part on secondary raw materials for the lithium, cobalt and nickel required. This reduces the overall supply chain CO₂e footprint of the Gen6 battery cell in the new BMW i7 60 xDrive by approximately 33 percent compared to the previous Gen5 cell used in the BMW i7 to date.

Aluminium wheels with high percentage of secondary raw materials.
From 2026, selected rim designs for the BMW i7 will be available with 70 percent secondary aluminium. Electrolysis of the remaining primary aluminium, as well as wheel rim production, is carried out in part using renewable energy. All components with a high percentage of secondary raw materials meet the BMW Group’s same strict quality standards, while also contributing to resource efficiency.

Enhanced efficiency during use phase.
With its EfficientDynamics technology package, the BMW Group optimises vehicle efficiency across all relevant subsystems during the use phase. This includes aerodynamics, lightweight construction, rolling resistance and overall energy management. EfficientDynamics has been used by the BMW Group across all drive technologies since 2007.

Production at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing.
All model variants of the new BMW 7 Series Sedan are produced at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing. The facility in Lower Bavaria, the Group’s primary plant for BMW luxury cars, increasingly relies on renewable energy for electricity and heating. 100 percent of its external electricity comes from renewable sources, some of which is also generated directly on site. In late 2025, an approximately 100,000-square-metre rooftop photovoltaic system with an output of almost 11 MWp was commissioned at the facility. In addition, a biomass heating plant went on-stream late last year to ensure that locally-produced heat is partially supplied from renewable energy sources.

In line with BMW Group’s sustainable development goals.
The BMW Group’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement and to reaching “net zero” no later than 2050 is an integral part of its holistic 360° approach to sustainability, which is anchored in its corporate strategy. The BMW Group has set itself ambitious science-based CO₂e targets for the coming years and intends to reduce its CO₂e emissions by a total of at least 40 million tonnes from 2019 levels by 2030.

Transparency through BMW Vehicle Footprint.
The BMW Group has published its vehicles’ Product Carbon Footprint, as validated by the German Technical Inspection Association (TÜV), in the so-called Vehicle Footprint for several years. This report is publicly available here for all drive trains of the new BMW 7 Series from the start of production and can also be accessed in the My BMW app. In this way, the BMW Group creates transparency around the percentage of secondary materials and CO₂e emissions throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group builds new Competence Centre Circularity at Wackersdorf site

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Munich/Wackersdorf. The BMW Group is relocating its Recycling and Dismantling Centre (RDC) from Unterschleißheim to the company’s Wackersdorf site, with a significant expansion. At the new location, a technologically state-of-the-art competence centre for circularity is being built, advancing vehicle dismantling and recycling expertise for the future. Commissioning is scheduled for early 2029.

“The circular economy is a key element of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy,” says Jörg Lederbauer, Vice-President Circular Economy, Spare Parts Supply High Voltage Battery and Electric Powertrain at the BMW Group. “Our new competence centre in Wackersdorf will be a core component of our circular value chain and will help make the mobility of the future more resource efficient. We want to find the best way to keep materials in the cycle, ensuring that resources retain their value for further use in the long term. This will also reduce our dependence on primary raw materials. At the same time, the use of high-quality secondary materials will continue to significantly lower our vehicles’ carbon footprint.”

For more than 30 years, at its current location in Unterschleißheim, near Munich, the BMW Group Recycling and Dismantling Centre (RDC) has developed methods aimed at achieving significant advances in the recycling of parts and the recovery of materials, and has tested them in practice. The insights gained by the RDC into the recyclability of components and materials, in line with Design for Circularity principles, are already incorporated into product development at the BMW Group. These insights also feed into the cooperation with PreZero, which the BMW Group recently entered into in order to leverage the strategic and economic potential of the circular economy in end‑of‑life vehicle recycling.

The recycling industry’s global network also benefits from the work of the RDC. Around 3,000 businesses in 32 countries rely on a shared recycling database for information on how recyclable components can be disassembled cost-effectively and valuable materials efficiently recovered.

At the future site, process, material and technology development will be even more closely integrated with vehicle recycling operations. The new scope of activities at the Competence Centre Circularity includes the recycling of hydrogen vehicles, automation of dismantling processes and development of expertise in innovative shredding and sorting technologies.

The BMW Group sees Wackersdorf as the ideal new location for the Competence Centre Circularity, with BMW Group Plant Wackersdorf having embodied flexibility for decades: Housing cockpit production, the Rolls-Royce door and flap production centre, parts supply for overseas plants and the battery testing centre, the site has wide-ranging expertise and is firmly established within the BMW Group network.

“In recent years, the company has set a decisive course for the future of the Wackersdorf location. Throughout this process, the entire plant team has consistently demonstrated flexibility. Building the competence centre for circularity here provides our site with a broader foundation. In this way, we are tapping into an attractive, future-oriented area of activity,” says Stefan Betz, head of BMW Group Plant Wackersdorf.

“The company is systematically continuing its successful transformation. Establishing the new Competence Centre Circularity here represents an important strategic decision by the company in favour of the Wackersdorf location – and, above all, its employees. As employee representatives, we also supported this,” says André Mandl, Works Council Chairman for BMW Group Plants Regensburg and Wackersdorf.

“In Wackersdorf, BMW has been a strong partner by our side for many decades. We are delighted that the BMW Group is reaffirming its commitment to the location with this move. It sends a clear signal for our site and for sustainable future technologies,” says Thomas Falter, Mayor of Wackersdorf.

“The cutting-edge Competence Centre Circularity will make a major contribution to regional value creation and further development of the circular economy,” adds Thomas Ebeling, District Administrator of Schwandorf District. “In combination with the trechnology transfer centre planned for Wackersdorf by the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences and the University of Applied Sciences Amberg Weiden, close integration of business and academia on the circular economy will now also be possible. In this way, we are strengthening the region.”

Following the location decision, the detailed planning phase for the Competence Centre Circularity at the new site can now begin. The existing RDC in Unterschleißheim will remain fully operational until the relocation. The BMW Group will provide further information on the next steps in due course.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

The new BMW i3: Second Neue Klasse model continues holistic approach to sustainability.

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Munich. In the BMW i3, as with the BMW iX3, the BMW Group applies a 360° approach to sustainability. At its core is decarbonisation throughout the entire vehicle lifecycle – from product development through the supply chain and production to the end of the use phase. In this way, the second Neue Klasse model also contributes to achieving the ambitious, overarching CO₂e targets the company has set itself.

CO₂e benefits already after 1-2 years of use.
Depending on the drive train variant, annual mileage and source of the electricity used for charging, the new BMW i3 50xDrive already achieves a CO₂e advantage over a comparable model with an internal combustion engine after one to two years of use[1].

Decarbonisation in the supply chain.
Targeted decarbonisation is a key starting point for reducing CO₂e emissions throughout the supply chain. The use of renewable energies, the increasing share of secondary material, and product and process innovations – for example, in the Gen6 cell and high-voltage battery – contribute to a significant emissions reduction across the entire supply chain.
The results of this systematic approach are demonstrated by the emission reductions achieved: Specific measures during product development of the BMW i3 lowered supply chain CO₂e emissions by about a third.[2]

Innovative materials and technologies for interior and exterior.
The “Design for Circularity” principle is also systematically applied in the new BMW i3. The concept incorporates gradually increased use of secondary materials, targeted reduction of material selection and optimised dismantling capability.
For example, the BMW i3 uses 30 percent recycled plastic in its front bumper trim. At the same time, the number of different materials used for the entire bumper, excluding mounted parts, was reduced from 15 to 7, compared to the predecessor model (seventh-generation BMW 3 Series). Due to the high use of a plastic particularly suitable for recycling, the proportion of recyclable plastic was increased from approximately 46 percent in the predecessor to about 85 percent[3]. This enables the recovery of high-quality plastic recyclates from the vehicle.
Another example of how the “Design for Circularity” principle is implemented in the new BMW i3 is the Econeer seat covers offered as part of the “Essential” equipment line, which are made from a recyclable textile composite. The basic material for the upper fabric is 100-percent recycled PET. The use of recycled PET granulate – as the base material for the polyester yarn required – significantly reduces CO₂e emissions and water consumption during manufacturing compared to primary material. The dismantling capability of the seat cover has also been improved to facilitate a material-specific separation at the end of the lifecycle.

Use of secondary materials in the new BMW i3.
The new BMW i3 consists of approx. 30 percent secondary materials in total[4]^: These include cast aluminium components, such front and rear knuckle, with 80 percent secondary material content, and cast aluminium wheel rims with 70 percent secondary aluminium.The housing for the rear electric motor, produced at BMW Plant Landshut, comprises up to two-thirds secondary aluminium. A portion of the energy used in production comes from renewable sources.
In the Gen6 battery cells of the BMW i3 high‑voltage battery, secondary materials are partially used for cobalt, lithium and nickel. Energy from renewable sources is used in manufacturing the anode and cathode materials, as well as for cell production. In comparison to the previous model’s Gen5 cell, CO₂e emissions were reduced by approx. 33 percent per watt hour.
Further examples of the innovative use of engineering and secondary materials include the engine compartment cover and the storage compartment under the BMW i3's bonnet. The starting material for these consists of 30 percent recycled maritime plastic – post-consumer material from used fishing nets and ropes – while the base material for the yarn used in the textiles for the headliner, A-pillar and parcel shelf consists entirely of recycled material.

Enhanced efficiency during use phase.
With the EfficientDynamics technology package, vehicle efficiency is optimised across all subsystems during the use phase.
This encompasses aerodynamics, lightweight construction, rolling resistance and overall energy management, for example. Efficientynamics has been employed by the BMW Group since 2007, across all drive technologies.

BMW Group Plant Munich undergoes extensive modernisation.
BMW Group Plant Munich is the BMW Group’s main plant.For more than a century, the plant has been producing premium mobility in Munich’s Milbertshofen district. Over the past four years, the site has been completely modernised: In addition to a new body shop, a state-of-the-art vehicle assembly was also built, including logistics areas. The new facilities are now in the final stages of construction. Production of the new BMW i3 will get underway here in 2026. Just one year later, the Munich location will transition its production portfolio to exclusively fully-electric vehicles for the Neue Klasse. As the BMW Group’s oldest automobile production site, the plant sources 100 percent of its external electricity requirements from renewable energy.

In line with BMW Group’s sustainable development goals.
The BMW Group’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement and to reaching “net zero” no later than 2050 is an integral part of its holistic 360° approach to sustainability, which is anchored in its corporate strategy. The company has set itself ambitious science-based CO₂e targets for the coming years. The BMW Group intends to reduce its CO₂e emissions by a total of at least 40 million tonnes from 2019 levels by 2030.

Transparency through Product Carbon Footprint .
The BMW Group has published its vehicles’ Product Carbon Footprint, as validated by the German Technical Inspection Association (TÜV), for many years in the so-called Vehicle Footprint. This report is publicly available here for all drive trains of the new BMW 3 Series from the Start of Production and can also be accessed in the My BMW app. In this way, the BMW Group creates transparency around the percentage of secondary materials and CO₂e emissions across the vehicles’ entire lifecycle.

[1] The figure provided is a preliminary forecast value. The final figure will be published with the Vehicle Footprint (VFP) prior to the Start of Production (SOP).

[2] The reduction is based on a comparison with industry averages from an internationally recognised LCA database. The figure provided is a preliminary forecast value. The final figure will be published with the Vehicle Footprint (VFP) prior to the Start of Production (SOP).

[3] Figures represent the percentage of material that can be separated by type using a shredding process and subsequent separation methods.

[4] The figure provided is a preliminary forecast value. The final figure will be published with the Vehicle Footprint (VFP) prior to the Start of Production (SOP).

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

How the BMW Group considers sustainability – all the way into the vehicle interior.

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Munich. With the new BMW i3, the BMW Group is reaffirming its holistic approach to product sustainability – shining a light on a relevant dimension of product development that has been less visible up until now: health and well-being in the passenger compartment. To address this aspect of vehicle development, interior air quality, material selection and olfactory perception are systematically studied and evaluated at the company’s own odour laboratory.

Holistic product sustainability as a guiding principle.
The BMW Group considers sustainability throughout a vehicle's entire lifecycle – from raw material extraction through the supply chain and production all the way to the use phase and recycling. This 360° approach combines product sustainability, technological innovation and long-term company success. Health and well-being are embedded into product development and systematically integrated into processes and standards.

Interior air quality and its impact on health.
Vehicle interior air quality is an important factor for health and well-being inside the vehicle. Emissions from materials, as well as influences such as temperature and humidity directly impact vehicle occupants. When selecting materials for the vehicle interior, the BMW Group therefore pays close attention to avoiding emissions that could be detrimental to health. For more than 25 years, the company has relied on its own testing methods to measure and evaluate emissions and scent profiles in the vehicle interior. The latest findings from toxicology, health and sensory research are continuously applied to in-house standards that the BMW Group also actively shares in international standardisation and specialised bodies.
The aim is to ensure the interior has a scent that is authentic, discreet and high-end, reinforcing the brand's premium promise. The use of artificial fragrances is deliberately avoided.

Scent as a subconscious dimension.
The BMW Group deliberately addresses on scent in the vehicle interior, as this has a significant influence on the occupants’ health and well-being.
Scents act directly on the limbic system, evoking emotions and memories, and contributing to the subjective feeling of safety. A pleasant and subtle scent is therefore part of the premium experience and an expression of the brand's aspirations.
By minimising harmful emissions and selecting high-quality materials, the BMW Group acknowledges its responsibility for the health of its customers. Managing scent is therefore part of a holistic approach to sustainability across the entire lifecycle.

Inside the BMW Group scent laboratory.
At the BMW Group scent laboratory, materials, components and complete vehicle interiors are tested under realistic conditions. The analysis relies on the integration of modern measurement technologies and the trained sensory evaluation of BMW Group experts. Humans remain central to this process. This approach ensures compliance with legal requirements and adherence to internal quality standards. Scent is viewed as part of a multi-sensory, holistic experience. What matters most is not the individual component, but the interaction of all materials in the vehicle interior, which determines the overall olfactory experience.

Health and well-being as elements of product sustainability.
The new BMW i3 embodies an aspiration that applies to the entire BMW Group brand portfolio: In addition to a consistent decarbonisation strategy throughout the vehicle lifecycle, the model relies on a high percentage of secondary materials and innovative material concepts for the interior.
“Health and well-being are an integral part of product sustainability for us. Environmental factors and a growing health awareness are changing how we perceive our living spaces – including our cars. Our customers expect products that are designed to take their health and well-being into account. That is why interior air quality is a key product feature in our holistic approach to sustainability,” according to Nils Hesse, Vice President Product Sustainability at the BMW Group.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group Plant Rosslyn reaches 100,000 fourth-generation BMW X3 production milestone

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 14:03:37 +0100

Pretoria. BMW Group Plant Rosslyn has reached a significant production milestone with the completion of its 100,000th fourth-generation BMW X3, marking an important moment for the South African manufacturing facility and the people behind its success.

The milestone reflects the collective effort of associates across the plant and the broader ecosystem of suppliers, logistics partners and dealerships that support vehicle production. Together, these teams contribute to delivering vehicles that meet BMW Group’s global standards for quality and performance.

The 100,000th vehicle produced is a Fire Red BMW X3 plug-in hybrid destined for Australia. BMW Group Plant Rosslyn is the only production facility globally manufacturing the BMW X3 plug-in hybrid for international markets, underscoring the plant’s strategic role within BMW Group’s global production network. Located north of Pretoria, BMW Group Plant Rosslyn continues to play an important role in South Africa’s automotive industry. Since the plant’s inception, more than 1.8 million vehicles have been produced at the facility, including the previous third-generation BMW X3.

Behind every vehicle produced at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn is a team of people. Production associates, technicians, engineers and support teams work together across multiple production stages to ensure each vehicle meets the high standards expected by customers.

“Producing 100,000 fourth-generation BMW X3 vehicles is a significant milestone for BMW Group Plant Rosslyn and a testament to the dedication and professionalism of our associates,” said Danny Bester, Director of BMW Group Plant Rosslyn. “Every vehicle that leaves this plant represents the skill, commitment and pride of the people who build it. It also reflects the trust that customers place in the BMW brand and in the quality delivered here in South Africa.”

The milestone also highlights the plant’s contribution to skills development and talent cultivation. Apprentices, trainees and graduate engineers gain hands-on experience in a real manufacturing environment, helping to develop the next generation of technical and engineering professionals in South Africa.

Each vehicle produced at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn moves through multiple production stations where associates focus on precision, teamwork and continuous improvement. For many employees, the milestone represents years of dedication and a shared commitment on the production floor.

While reaching this 100,000-vehicle milestone marks an important moment, work at the plant continues every day as teams remain focused on building vehicles with the same attention to quality, precision and care that defines the BMW brand.

ENDS

If you have any questions, please contact:

Corporate Communications
Angela Konert
Head of Business Communications

Phone: +27 71 666 2472
Email: Angela.Konert@bmw.co.za
https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

The BMW Group

With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial services. The BMW Group production network comprises over 30 production sites worldwide; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2024, the BMW Group sold over 2.45 million passenger vehicles and more than 210,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2024 was € 11.0 billion on revenues amounting to € 142,4 billion. As of 31 December 2024, the BMW Group had a workforce of 159.104 employees.

The economic success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. Sustainability is a key element of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy and covers all products from the supply chain and production to the end of their useful life.

www.bmwgroup.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/bmw-group/

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Production milestone for BMW Group Plant Hams Hall: British engine plant celebrates 25 years

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 08:30:00 +0100

Hams Hall, UK. BMW Group’s Hams Hall plant, located in the UK, has reached a major milestone: For exactly 25 years, the plant near Birmingham has produced highly efficient internal combustion engines for a variety of BMW Group vehicle models. More than 7.6 million engines have shipped from Hams Hall since 2001. The facility supplies numerous production sites worldwide with highly efficient petrol engines for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands, including drive trains for plug-in hybrid models – making the plant an integral part of the BMW Group’s technology-open approach. Today, Plant Hams Hall produces three and four-cylinder petrol engines to high performance V8 engines, powering vehicles across both BMW and MINI. Separately, the V12 engine is produced at Plant Hams Hall exclusively for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Its assembly follows a distinct, bespoke production process, carried out by specially trained engineers and technicians, before final delivery to the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood.

Plant Hams Hall – an integral part of the global production network

"This anniversary is a special milestone for our site," says Dirk Dreher, Head of the BMW Group's Hams Hall plant. "We are a competitive plant and there’s always been a real passion among our workforce to continually improve our manufacturing processes and site. Building on our strong foundation, we are looking forward to remaining a successful plant in the future."

“The Hams Hall plant is an integral part of our global production network,” explains Harald Gottsche, Head of Engine Production at BMW AG. “The site combines technological expertise with high flexibility. It reliably supplies our vehicle plants with efficient, powerful engines of premium quality. This includes the V12 engine – a masterpiece from Hams Hall!”

61% reduction in energy use per engine built since the start of full production

The British engine plant is systematically implementing the principles of the BMW iFACTORY. The strategic vision of the BMW iFACTORY focusses on sustainability, electrification, digitalisation and profitability. From the first concept of the plant to the present day, the Hams Hall team has made sustainability a key consideration. Since the first full year of production, the plant has made a 61% reduction in energy required per engine built, meaning the overall energy to operate the site has remained level even though there has been a considerable increase in production. The plant purchases 100% of its external electricity from renewable energy sources today. It has also worked to reduce its consumption of natural gas.

SpOTTO robotic dog scans and monitors manufacturing equipment

A four-legged autonomous robot named “SpOTTO” joined the Hams Hall team in 2024. The autonomous robotic dog scans the plant, supports maintenance and ensures production processes run smoothly. Equipped with visual, thermal and acoustic sensors, SpOTTO collects valuable data for the plant’s digital twin. It also serves as a watchdog, monitoring the maintenance of production facilities. SpOTTO was developed by Boston Dynamics under the product name “Spot”, an agile robot capable of climbing stairs and traversing rough terrain with ease. At Hams Hall, “Spot” was fondly renamed SpOTTO, paying tribute to the engine plant’s proud heritage: Gustav Otto, one of the founders of BMW, was the son of Nicolaus Otto, inventor of the four-stroke engine.

Fully connected digital twin: Big data on three levels

At the core of the Hams Hall plant’s digital transformation is the fully connected digital twin, which consists of three levels: On the first level, 3D representations of the entire plant are generated. The second level comprises a large data layer, continuously updated with all relevant information from the SpOTTO robotic dog, the plant’s manufacturing equipment and its IT systems. On the third level – the application level – dedicated programmes organise the collected data into comprehensible units. Using special apps, experts at Plant Hams Hall can leverage this information for tasks such as production planning and quality assurance.

A history of continuous growth

Over the past 25 years, BMW Group Plant Hams Hall has continuously evolved, establishing itself as a key pillar of the company’s production network. Relying on state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies, it provides drive trains for numerous BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce models.

Selected historic milestones:

2001: Plant Hams Hall launches series production with new four-cylinder engines, using innovative Valvetronic technology in large-scale manufacturing for the first time.
2006: An additional engine family is introduced; Plant Hams Hall produces engines for the MINI brand for the first time.
2013: Plant Hams Hall becomes the exclusive manufacturer of the award-winning three-cylinder engine for the iconic BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car. The plant also integrates additional production lines for three- and four-cylinder petrol engines. At the same time, the processing hall for crankshafts, crankcases and cylinder heads is expanded.
2022: The plant takes over production of V8 and V12 engines. With this step the plant generates even greater business value for the company.
2026: Plant Hams Hall celebrates 25 years of production.

The BMW Group’s drive train production network

The BMW Group’s engine production network comprises several plants alongside Hams Hall: Its largest engine facility is in Steyr, Austria, where diesel and petrol engines, as well as sixth-generation electric motors, are developed and produced. The fifth generation of electric motors is produced in Dingolfing. Plant Munich handles mechanical production of V8 and V12 engine components, while Plant Landshut manufactures special engines. The Chinese joint venture BMW Brilliance builds engines for the local market in Shenyang. Collectively, these locations support the BMW Group's technology-open powertrain strategy.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group and UNICEF create educational opportunities for 330,000 young people in five countries

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 10:00:00 +0100

Munich. On World Education Day, 24 January, the BMW Group and UNICEF announce the successful achievements of their global partnership. In just two years, “BRIDGE. Educating young people for tomorrow, today” has reached around 330,000 children and young people at about 2,900 schools in India, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa – all countries where BMW operates production facilities. More than 10,000 teachers have received specialised STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) training.

Educational initiative reaches beyond the classroom

BRIDGE’s educational programmes are country-specific and specially tailored to each region. Today, some 2.7 million children and young people are already benefiting indirectly from the high-quality learning opportunities it provides and from structural improvements to their education systems. The impact of BRIDGE goes far beyond the classroom, extending to families, local communities and entire regions.

Joining forces for a future of self-determination

“Our partnership with UNICEF is impressive evidence of what can happen when two strong partners get together. In an ever more complex world, no one can drive change alone: the only way to create real impact is together. Our collaboration gives children and young people across the globe a genuine chance for education – and with it, the opportunity for a better future. By focusing on STEM subjects, we are specifically fostering essential skills for tomorrow – and building bridges to self-determined development,” says Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, HR and Real Estate, Labour Director.

Enduring collaborations strengthen social participation.

UNICEF also underscores the power of collaboration: “Young people are the most powerful drivers of success in any society or community. By empowering them, we are making a long-term investment in a sustainable future for all. Our partnership with the BMW Group demonstrates how effective long-term collaborations between UNICEF and businesses can create smoother pathways to employment for young people worldwide, enabling them to participate fully in social and economic life,” says Georg Graf Waldersee, Chairman of the Board of UNICEF Germany.

Bridging gaps in education – Empowering the specialists of tomorrow

STEM expertise is the foundation of technological innovation, economic growth and social progress. Yet in many countries, access to the necessary education remains limited – widening gaps in skills and specialisations. BRIDGE addresses this issue early on by closing educational gaps and equipping children and young people with the knowledge they need to enter the digital working world of tomorrow.

Regional education programmes support disadvantaged children

Developed in close collaboration with the educational authorities of the five countries involved, programme content is tailored to national and regional needs, with specific focus areas for each setting. A key emphasis is placed on supporting disadvantaged children and young people – particularly girls.

In Mexico the focus is on promoting gender-responsive STEM education, with a particular focus on empowering girls in rural and disadvantaged communities.

In Brazil STEM education is combined with life project counselling to help prevent children and young people from dropping out of school and provide online learning options for easier access to education.

In Thailand the programme works to improve the quality of STEM education and ensure individual support opportunities for disadvantaged young people.

In India efforts centre on strengthening basic literacy and numeracy and expanding practice-oriented STEM courses and Maker Spaces.

In South Africa BRIDGE equips disadvantaged schools with technologies and integrates coding and robotics into the curriculum to help prepare children and young people for the digital world of work.

Clear goals, lasting impact

The BMW Group is committed to long-term, impact-focused partnerships with clearly defined goals. From the outset, BRIDGE was designed to span at least seven years, running until 2030. Together with UNICEF, the BMW Group aims to build on the success achieved so far and create lasting educational opportunities for children and young people worldwide.

* UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.

If you have any questions, please contact:

BMW Group Corporate Communications

Katharina Schalk, Press Spokesperson for Corporate Citizenship

Email: katharina.schalk@bmwgroup.com

Mobile: +49-151-601-51092

Milena Pighi, Head of Corporate Citizenship

Email: milena.pa.pighi@bmwgroup.com

Mobile: +49-160-978-24316

The BMW Group

In 2024, the BMW Group sold over 2.45 million passenger vehicles and more than 210,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2024 was € 11.0 billion on revenues amounting to € 142.4 billion. As of 31 December 2024, the BMW Group had a workforce of 159,104 employees.

The economic success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. Sustainability is a key element of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy and covers all products from the supply chain and production to the end of their useful life.

www.bmwgroup.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/bmw-group/

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group receives prestigious innovation award for components made from flax fibres.

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 17:00:00 +0100

Munich. The BMW Group, together with its partners, has won the globally renowned JEC Composites Innovation Award for series-production exterior components in automobiles. The award was presented at the JEC World Premiere in Paris and recognizes innovations in the development of sustainable materials for the automotive industry.

Innovation and sustainability in automotive engineering.

In June of 2025, the BMW Group first announced the use of natural composites made from flax fibre in the design of series-production vehicles. The award in the "Automotive & Road Transportation Parts" category recognizes BMW Group’s successful integration of these innovative materials. BMW Group’s decision to use natural fibre composites for visible components in series-production vehicles is the most comprehensive application within the industry to date.

Collaboration enables technological breakthrough.

The innovative use of fibre composites is the result of years of research and development work and intensive cooperation with partners Bcomp Ltd., Cobra Advanced Composites Co. Ltd. and PPG Wörwag Coatings GmbH & Co. KG. Together, the consortium succeeded in overcoming a major technical challenge: ensuring the natural fibre composites developed would meet the complex requirements for series production required across the structure of the vehicle, including the high quality needed for the roof panel.

Contribution to CO₂e reduction and lightweight construction.

The use of natural fibres helps to reduce the CO₂e footprint of future vehicle models and has an impact on lightweight construction goals. Material tests show that superior exterior and interior components can be manufactured from these natural fibres.

A concrete example is the use of natural flax fibre composites instead of carbon fibre composites in the roof panels of future models. Replacing carbon roof panel with flax fibre panels can achieve a reduction in CO₂e emissions of around 40% during production plus addition end-of-life considerations.

Collaboration as a success factor.

The development of innovative natural flax fibre composites is the result of successful and intensive collaboration with internal and external partners. Cross-departmental and cross-company cooperation has led to new and innovative solutions in materials and manufacturing processes. Through BMW Group’s use of interdisciplinary expertise, it has been possible to develop forward-looking products and consistently promote sustainability in automotive engineering.

Dr. Herbert Negele, Head of Materials Development and Lightweight Construction, emphasized the importance of BMW Group’s collaborative approach: "At BMW Group, we are committed to thinking and acting responsibly. This premise requires the continuous development of our materials towards sustainability, while continuing to meet the high demands of functionality, lightweight construction and design. The JEC Award confirms our approach and motivates everyone involved in the project to continue along this path.”

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Efficient, sustainable, digital: New BMW Group Plant Debrecen set to begin series production of the BMW iX3 in late October

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:01:00 +0200

Debrecen. The BMW Group has entered the final phase before the first Neue Klasse model rolls off the assembly line. Series production of the new BMW iX3 will get underway in late October at the BMW Group plant in Debrecen, Hungary, as the newest, most innovative manufacturing facility in the company’s global production network officially begins work.

“The start of series production for the BMW iX3 signals a new era of automotive manufacturing. Our new plant in Debrecen has been designed and built fully in line with our strategic vision of the iFACTORY. Digital from the very beginning, the plant will offer a new dimension in efficient production without fossil fuels,” says Milan Nedeljković, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Production.

The BMW iFACTORY represents a strategic vision of production, built on streamlined, efficient structures, responsible resource management, economical use of cutting-edge digital innovations and a strong focus on employees. The BMW Group has also registered new patents for a large number of innovative systems and processes at Plant Debrecen.

“We have taken on the challenge of building a completely new vehicle as the first job at an entirely new plant – and doing so in the leanest, most efficient way possible. We have simplified processes, reduced complexity, digitally validated each individual operation and systematically leveraged expertise across our global network. The result is this plant, with its efficient production, innovative processes and the flexibility to integrate additional models,” says Hans-Peter Kemser, head of BMW Group Plant Debrecen.

As with any new model, capacity for the new BMW iX3 will be gradually ramped up in stages after the start of production. Spearheading the arrival of the Neue Klasse, the iX3 showcases the latest design and technology innovations that will define the brand's entire model range in the future. Between now and 2027, the technologies in the Neue Klasse will be integrated into 40 new models and model updates.

From virtual factory to reality

The guiding principles of the BMW iFACTORY have been fully implemented in the technologies employed at the new BMW Group plant in Debrecen. For example, Plant Debrecen was planned and built digitally from the outset, and celebrated its virtual start of production back in March 2023 in the BMW Group’s Virtual Factory. This approach allowed every operation to be tested virtually in advance, enabling production lines to be installed in the buildings exactly as in the digital twin.

Optimal processes for all plant technologies

With an optimised value stream and efficient systems, the press shop guarantees a high level of productivity. The BMW Group continues to follow its proven strategy of using the same tools and presses throughout its global network. This optimises capacity utilisation within the network by allowing press tools to be deployed at multiple locations and enabling staff to be trained in-network.

The body shop, in particular, benefits from prior digital planning and validation. Every process detail was digitally simulated in advance to determine the ideal value stream and ensure that each of the nearly 1,000 robots was optimally positioned. From the outset, close collaboration between development and production teams led to high production efficiency and maximum customer benefit. For example, the number of joining methods was significantly reduced, lowering overall complexity. Design features integrated early in development are also evident in the details of the Neue Klasse, such as the invisible door seal. This creates a visual connection between the window and the door, resulting in a unique look. In addition, maximising the space available for the battery in the body structure – and thus the size and performance of the battery – directly benefits the customer.

At BMW Group Plant Debrecen, the paint shop plays a critical role in significantly reducing the CO₂e footprint of the BMW iX3. Production of the new BMW iX3 will generate a total of about 80 kg CO₂e (scope 1/2 emissions). This figure covers CO₂e emissions from Plant Debrecen, as well as in-house parts production at other BMW Group facilities, including components manufactured in Landshut, for example. This represents a reduction of approx. two-thirds compared to production of existing BMW derivatives. For Plant Debrecen alone, this approach will reduce CO₂e emissions from the manufacture of a vehicle, including its high-voltage battery, by around 90% – to about 34 kg CO₂e (when operating at full capacity, compared with other BMW Group facilities).

Paint shops typically rely on gas to reach the high temperatures (up to 180 degrees Celsius) required. Plant Debrecen will be the BMW Group's first car plant supplied exclusively with electricity from renewable energy sources during normal operation, i.e. without using fossil fuels such as oil or gas. Because of its high energy demands, the paint shop is the most important factor in significantly lowering Plant Debrecen’s CO₂e emissions. In the paint shop alone, using electricity from renewable sources reduces annual CO₂e emissions by up to 12,000 tonnes. About a quarter of the plant's annual power needs will be supplied by the 50‑hectare on-site photovoltaic system. Surplus solar energy, such as that generated on non‑working days, is stored in a 1,800 m³ thermal storage system with a capacity of 130 MWh.

The paint shop also uses an energy recovery system. A heat grid was successfully implemented in the design of the new paint shop, delivering additional energy savings of up to 10%. This innovative concept combines multiple measures for efficient energy recovery from the compressed air supply, drying ovens and cooling systems. The recovered waste heat is then used to preheat the water circuit.

In addition, a thermal storage system – holding 1,800 m³ of water, with a capacity of 130 MWh – stores surplus energy from the photovoltaic system during off-peak periods and supplies it as heat during peak demand.

Full digitalisation of production processes further boosts assembly efficiency. The AIQX (Artificial Intelligence Quality Next) IT platform developed in-house at the BMW Group is a key component of the BMW iFACTORY. AIQX uses sensors and camera systems along the production line to automate quality processes. AI evaluates the data and provides real-time feedback to employees on the line. Looking ahead, vehicles on the line will also become active, connected participants in the industrial IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystem. They will conduct self-analysis, interact with plant employees in real time and automatically share and document relevant messages, using tools such as on-board cameras and IT systems. The equipment, tools, components and every BMW in the assembly halls are already digitally connected to the BMW production system.

The building's “finger structure” – an optimised version of the design employed at BMW Group Plant Leipzig – allows 80% of parts to be delivered directly to the correct point of assembly on the line. All-electric in-house logistics also benefit from autonomous tugger trains, which transport high-voltage batteries directly from production to installation points, as well as Smart Transport Robots that autonomously deliver smaller components to the assembly line. By linking all internal and external databases, the entire logistics process achieves unprecedented digital depth, automating many previously manual, interconnected analysis tasks. Well-structured information is therefore available at any time and can be analysed instantly “at the push of a button”.

The BMW Group has created highly intelligent production processes for its new high-voltage batteries developed in-house. Plant Debrecen will be the first of five plants worldwide to begin series production of Gen6 high-voltage batteries. The production processes were initially developed and tested at pilot plants. Artificial intelligence, data analytics and constant knowledge sharing within the production network also play a key role in the ramp-up of production. Digital twins of production and comprehensive AI databases ensure optimisation of processes and employee training. A consistent zero-defect approach enables seamless in-line quality inspections and 100% end‑of-line monitoring. In line keeping with the “local for local” principle, high‑voltage battery assembly takes place directly on site, allowing the production teams to take advantage of infrastructure efficiencies and short distances.

Best of the best:
Plant Debrecen benefits from expertise at all production sites worldwide

BMW Group Plant Debrecen is the first production site in the company's network not tied to a specific primary plant. Instead, it serves as a network plant, combining best practices from various locations worldwide. A major advantage of this approach is that the plant’s current workforce of more than 2,000 employees can be trained within the network, allowing employee know-how from different locations, such as China, South Africa, Mexico, the US and, of course, Germany, to be shared. At the same time, employees throughout the global network gain the opportunity to share their technology insights in Debrecen and bring expertise in production of the Neue Klasse models back to their own location – creating a win-win situation for all the plants.

A long version with further details on all technologies is available as a PDF file in the downloads section.

CO2 EMISSIONS & CONSUMPTION.

WLTP energy consumption combined: 17,9 - 15,1 kWh/100 km; WLTP CO₂ emissions combined: 0 g/km; CO₂-class: A; WLTP electric range: 679 - 805 km.

Press Contact: Moritz Schmerbeck
Tel: +49-151-601-43233
E-mail: moritz.schmerbeck@bmwgroup.com

Rays of hope: Announcing the recipients of the 2025 BMW Group Award for Social Responsibility.

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 11:00:00 +0200

Munich. Giuseppe Cassataro, Samory Gassama, Grit Grassberger and Khaled Kombas are inspiring role models: They are the winners of this year’s BMW Group Award for Social Responsibility. The award ceremony took place at the BMW Welt Double Cone in Munich on 15 September. For the 14^th time, the award recognised employees’ outstanding social commitment. Each winner will receive prize money of 10,000 euros to support their project.

“Keeping our eyes open to the world and having the courage to drive change – that is exactly what our award-winners embody. They show us all how to create rays of hope and nurture a meaningful social community. With passion and dedication, they bring about lasting improvements in people's lives. There can never be enough of this kind of commitment in the world,” said Ilka Horstmeier, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for People and Real Estate, who is also the patron of the award.

Good deeds make a difference
Every year, employees from around the world apply for this award, which is highly respected across the company. This year, ten candidates with a particularly impressive level of commitment were nominated for the final round. Many of the nominees have launched their own social projects and dedicated countless hours of their free time to supporting disadvantaged individuals. One of the finalists described their motivation: “Friendliness is not a one-time act – it’s a rhythm. When this rhythm is shared, it creates something bigger than ourselves.”

All finalists attended the award ceremony and received 2,500 euros in prize money each, directly supporting their projects.

Here are the 2025 recipients:
Khaled Kombas is a Smart Access project manager in Munich, who champions the rights of people with disabilities in his home country of Tunisia through the initiative he founded, “TunisAid – Aid for Tunisians with Disabilities”. The organisation helps create a better future for people with disabilities by providing in-home care, workshop apprenticeships, expanding schools and offering financial support. His dedication inspired many colleagues, who chose Khaled Kombas as the winner of the employee vote in 2025.

Samory Gassama, a Change Management engineer in Munich, is the recipient of the Vera-und-Volker-Doppelfeld Award, which encourages social commitment among young people. Together with a friend, he founded the association “Ihsanprojects – Initiative for Gesundheit und Bildung e.V.”, advocating for access to medical care, clean water and education, primarily in Senegal. One project, in particular, stands out: Thanks to an innovative digital solution, people in regions without local medical care can receive a medical consultation via video chat.

Guiseppe Cassataro, who works in Insurance and Damage Management for Alphabet Italia in Milan, Italy, has dedicated his life to supporting people with multiple sclerosis (MS). As an active member of the initiative “Associazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla” (AISM) for 25 years, he focuses on organising drivers to bring people with MS to work, medical appointments or government offices. This initiative helps individuals confined to a wheelchair maintain their mobility.

Grit Grassberger works in MINI Lifestyle Product Management in Munich. Through the association “JUNITI e.V.”, which she co-founded with a friend after a trip to Sri Lanka, she aims to improve educational opportunities for children in the country. By partnering with local organisations, the association funds hot school lunches for children from socially disadvantaged families, often a key factor in ensuring regular school attendance. A special programme also focuses on empowering young women, in particular, to successfully start their own businesses.

SOCIAL DRIVE means employees’ social commitment
With its multinational workforce, the BMW Group is more than just a car manufacturer. Together with our employees, we are an integral part of global society, helping find solutions to many future issues and challenges. Through innovation and volunteering, BMW Group associates drive positive change worldwide. These activities are bundled in the SOCIAL DRIVE initiative: Alongside the BMW Group Award, the SOCIAL DRIVE platform allows volunteers to showcase their projects and connect with one another.It shines a light on social commitment and inspires others to get involved.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group South Africa engages national leadership at Plant Rosslyn, deepening collaborative vision for industrial growth.

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 14:08:00 +0200

Rosslyn, Tshwane. BMW Group South Africa marked a notable milestone, hosting key national leadership, including the President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, accompanied by the Premier of Gauteng Province, Panyaza Lesufi, at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn on Thursday, 24 July.

The landmark visit, which saw the participation of Milan Nedeljković, Chairman of BMW South Africa and Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Production, and Ilka Horstmeier, Labour Relations Director and Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for People and Real Estate, as part of their broader engagements in South Africa, highlighted the strong and active partnership between the BMW Group and the South African government in advancing industrial growth and economic empowerment.

“The achievements at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn, especially its path towards record production volumes and its crucial role in our global BMW X3 production, are a source of great pride”, comments Milan Nedeljković. “Our significant investment in electrification here demonstrates our long-term belief in South Africa as a key manufacturing hub within our global network, driving innovation, skills and sustainable growth for the region.”

Showcasing local excellence and commitment.

The visit provided a valuable opportunity to spotlight BMW Group South Africa’s recent successes and plans. BMW Group Plant Rosslyn is set to achieve its highest annual production volume in 52 years, reflecting strong global demand and the BMW Group’s confidence in local manufacturing capabilities. This performance is underpinned by continuous investment, notably the R4.2 billion allocated for the electrification of BMW Group Plant Rosslyn. The locally produced BMW X3 recently earned critical acclaim, winning the Old Mutual Insure 2025 South African Car of the Year and the Premium category awards, highlighting its strength and market appeal. BMW Group South Africa’s strong Q2 performance indicates its leadership in the premium segment, with customer demand and its electrification strategy continuing to drive production of the new BMW X3 at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn. To date, Plant Rosslyn is the only plant that produces the BMW X3 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) for the entire world; a fact that the team of BMW Group Plant Rosslyn takes pride in.

Advancing South Africa’s automotive sector, together.

The engagement at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn served as a pivotal platform to reinforce the company’s position as a trusted corporate citizen and contributor to national progress. During the visit, President Ramaphosa interacted with the plant assembly staff on the production line, gaining firsthand insight into daily operations, and later addressed several hundred production staff, acknowledging their dedication. Discussions during the visit highlighted BMW Group South Africa’s industry leadership, showcasing its role as a premium automotive manufacturer through innovative and sustainable practices, and emphasising its substantial investment in South Africa’s economic development.

The dialogue focused on the tangible benefits of BMW Group Plant Rosslyn, specifically its role in advancing job creation, driving essential skills development, and facilitating technology transfer within the local market. A reflection of its ongoing dedication to national transformation, BMW Group South Africa and BMW Group Financial Services South Africa both achieved Level 1 B-BBEE status in the 2024 audit, highlighting the companies’ drive towards an inclusive and equitable workplace, and reflecting continuous, focused efforts and collaboration. Crucially, the visit has strengthened public and private sector relations, deepening BMW Group South Africa’s partnership with the local government and aligning its strategic goals with the President’s vision for industrial growth, economic empowerment and sustainable mobility.

“This engagement at Plant Rosslyn reaffirms the great partnership between the BMW Group and South Africa”, states Daniel Bester, Director of BMW Group Plant Rosslyn. “Our plant continues to be a beacon of manufacturing excellence, setting new production records and driving innovation. We remain committed to contributing to South Africa’s economic growth, actively working towards a shared, prosperous future.”

Beyond manufacturing, BMW Group South Africa’s partnership with the Youth Employment Services (YES) programme continues to create meaningful work opportunities for young South Africans, equipping them with practical experience. The company has generated over 3,500 youth work experiences since 2022. The 2025 cohort at BMW South Africa includes 86 talented individuals gaining invaluable experience across the four business entities.

Creating confidence for a shared future.

The successful gathering at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn solidifies BMW Group South Africa’s industrial leadership and its function as an integral collaborator in South Africa’s economic growth and enduring prosperity. A key pillar supporting this confidence is the company’s highly adaptive and capable manufacturing workforce. The advanced requirements for producing the new BMW X3 at BMW Group Plant Rosslyn have driven significant advancements in employee technical skills and expertise. This continuous development of local capabilities not only upholds manufacturing excellence but also reinforces South Africa’s strategic importance within the global automotive industry.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

My BMW App shows drivers CO2 emissions over the entire life cycle for the first time.

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0200

Munich. The BMW Group is now offering customers even broader scope for personalising analysis of their driving stats in the My BMW App and MINI App. The latest update allows drivers to view their personal carbon footprint for the first time.

“Our usage research shows: The information in My Trips is one of the most popular features in the app,” says Dirk Wiedmann, Senior Vice President Sales Steering and Strategy, Digitalization. “We are now expanding this successful function with carbon footprint calculation, giving our customers simple and straightforward access to sustainability-related information via a popular and widely used channel.”

Emissions from vehicle production and use: two sets of figures make up the driver’s personal footprint.
The personal carbon footprint function has been designed with a technology-open approach and is available for vehicles with combustion engines, as well as plug-in hybrid and fully electric models. At launch, this feature will be rolled out across selected models in various European countries*. Calculation of the personal footprint is based on two central sets of figures.

Emissions from vehicle use: My Trips analyses the routes the driver has completed and uses the energy consumed in the process to work out the CO₂ emitted. To this end, CO₂equivalents are calculated using data from the International Energy Agency (IEA). For vehicles with combustion engines, the app calculates the amount of CO₂ emitted based on the fuel consumed. For battery-electric vehicles, it shows the emissions generated when using the average national energy mix – and also tells the driver how high emissions would be by comparison if green energy was used.
Emissions from vehicle production: These are emissions generated during the manufacturing process. Emissions are recorded from the processing of raw materials, procurement of materials, transport logistics and the production of the model at hand. The BMW Group already sets out the emissions figures for numerous models in the form of Vehicle Footprint Reports. These are calculated according to recognised standards for life cycle assessments and certified by the TÜV Rheinland agency. They can also be downloaded from the BMW Group website.

Ready for electric mobility: My BMW App helps with the transition.

The My BMW App also includes the Electric Vehicle Analysis introduced last summer. This function allows customers whose BMW is powered by a combustion engine to simulate how well a fully electric BMW fits their personal driving profile. Here, the customer selects an electric BMW model as an alternative vehicle in the app. Once the combustion-engined model has made at least 200 journeys and covered a distance of 2,000 kilometres (over 1,240 miles), the analysis shows the journeys the user could have completed on a single charge with the electric vehicle selected, and also flags up charging stations close to frequently visited destinations. More than 100,000 customers had used this analysis by May 2025.

Over 14 million customers around the world use the My BMW App and MINI App. The My Trips function is available in more than 90 countries and is actively used by 1.9 million users.

* The new function is available to users of vehicles for which a TÜV-certified carbon footprint has been calculated. The feature will launch in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Luxemburg and Switzerland, and be available in the BMW 1 Series (code 81GE), BMW 2 Series (31GH), BMW X2 (71GM, 21GM), BMW X3 (11GR, 31GP, 65GP), BMW 5 Series (31FK, 11JF, 71FJ), BMW 5 Series Touring (11HH, 11GW, 21GV), BMW M5 (81FK) and BMW iX (41CF) and MINI Cooper (11GC), MINI Cooper C (11GD), MINI Aceman (31GC) and MINI Countryman (41GA, 11GA).

In the event of enquiries please contact:

Corporate Communications

Wieland Brúch
BMW Product Communications
Electromobility and Sustainability
Phone: +49-176-601-72652
E-mail: Wieland.Bruch@bmw.de

Martin Tholund
Spokesperson BMW Digital Car, Electronics and Software, Technology Partnerships, Digital Products and Services
Phone: +49-151-601-77126
E-Mail: Martin.Tholund@bmwgroup.com

Internet: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

E-mail: presse@bmw.de

The BMW Group

With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial services. The BMW Group production network comprises over 30 production sites worldwide; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2024, the BMW Group sold 2.45 million passenger vehicles and more than 210,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2024 was € 11.0 billion on revenues amounting to € 142.4 billion. As of 31 December 2024, the BMW Group had a workforce of 159,104 employees.

The economic success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. Sustainability is a key element of the BMW Group’s corporate strategy and covers all products from the supply chain and production to the end of their useful life.

www.bmwgroup.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/bmw-group/

https://www.bmwgroup-werke.com/dingolfing/en/sustainability/cleanproduction.html

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group scores circular economy win with high-voltage batteries

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 09:00:00 +0100

Munich. With electric mobility continuing to gather pace, recycling high-voltage batteries is increasingly under the spotlight. After successfully launching a closed-loop recycling system for the reuse of raw materials from high-voltage batteries thanks to the BMW Brilliance Automotive Joint Venture (BBA) in China in 2022, the BMW Group has now hit another milestone on its journey. On 1 November 2024, it launched a pan-European partnership with SK tes, a leading provider of innovative technology lifecycle solutions. The special recycling process recovers cobalt, nickel and lithium from used batteries before returning them to the value chain to make new batteries. This closed-loop system is set to expand to the US-Mexico-Canada region as early as 2026.

Its long-term partnership with SK tes sees the BMW Group directly involved in the practical recycling processes, allowing it to feed back valuable insights to the development departments. Moving forward, high-voltage batteries from BMW Group development, production and markets in Europe that are no longer fit for use are to be delivered to SK tes in what is the first step towards an effective and sustainable circular economy for batteries. SK tes then converts the old batteries into high-quality metals that can be reintroduced to battery production. The latter process sees the batteries mechanically shredded, during which the metals are concentrated to leave a material called black mass. The valuable materials, namely nickel, lithium and cobalt, are then recovered in a highly effective chemical process called hydrometallurgy. Among other things, these secondary raw materials will be used for the new GEN 6 drive train.

"Partnerships like this increase our efficiency in terms of the circular economy. In the closed-loop process, all partners mutually benefit from their experiences," says Jörg Lederbauer, Vice President Circular Economy, Spare Parts Supply High Voltage Battery and Electric Powertrain at BMW AG.

The battery recycling process of SK tes has won numerous sustainability and innovation awards worldwide – from the Business Intelligence Group’s Sustainability Service of the Year to the UN Global Compact’s Apex Award.

Circular economy at the BMW Group

"The promotion of circular economy is an important strategic topic for the BMW Group. The development of recyclable products, the increase of secondary materials in our components, and the closing of loops play an equally important role," says Nadine Philipp, Vice President Sustainability Supplier Network at BMW AG. "And by the means of circular economy we are also increasing our resilience in the supply chains."

The BMW Group follows the principles of Re:Think, Re:Duce, Re:Use, and Re:Cycle in the sense of a conservation of resources when it comes to circular economy. From vehicle design and production to recycling and reuse: everything is geared towards ensuring BMW vehicles become a raw materials source for new cars once they reach the end of their useful life. One such example is the BMW Group’s Recycling and Dismantling Centre. Over a period of 30 years now, the centre has developed processes and put them into practice, making key progress in parts and materials recycling.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Innovative direct recycling at the BMW Group: New Competence Centre in Lower Bavaria returns battery cell raw materials to the loop

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 09:00:00 +0100

Munich. The BMW Group is building a Cell Recycling Competence Centre (CRCC) for battery cells in Kirchroth, in the Straubing-Bogen district of Lower Bavaria, where it will implement a process referred to as “direct recycling”. This innovative procedure enables residual materials from battery cell production, as well as whole battery cells, to be mechanically dismantled into their valuable components. The recovered raw materials are then directly reused in pilot production of battery cells at the company’s own Battery Cell Competence Centres.

“The new Cell Recycling Competence Centre brings another element to our in-house expertise: From development and pilot production to recycling, we are creating a closed loop for battery cells,” says Markus Fallböhmer, SVP Battery Production at BMW AG, “taking advantage of the short distances between our Competence Centres in Bavaria.” The BMW Group is investing around 10 million euros in construction of the new Competence Centre. Installation work at the building is already scheduled to begin in the second half of 2025. Once completed, validation of the recycling method in near-series processes will get underway.

Innovative direct recycling recovers valuable raw materials

Battery cell raw materials – primarily lithium and cobalt, but also graphite, manganese, nickel and copper – are among the main cost factors in cell production. Responsible use of these resources is essential from both environmental and economic perspectives. “The direct recycling will help reducing the costs for our battery cell pilot line”, explains Fallböhmer. Unlike conventional methods, the main characteristic of direct recycling is that raw materials from battery cells are not reverted to their original state, but are instead fed back “directly” into the cell production cycle. This method dispenses with the previously common energy-intensive chemical or thermal processing. The recycling method was developed by BMW Group experts at the Competence Centres in Munich and Parsdorf. At the new CRCC, it will be implemented on a larger scale and, once the processes are finalised, battery cell material in the mid-double-digit tonne range can be recycled per year.

Optimal location for new Competence Centre in Bavaria

The BMW Group consolidates its battery cell expertise at its Competence Centres in Munich and Parsdorf. The Battery Cell Competence Centre (BCCC) in the north of Munich offers state-of-the-art labs and research facilities for developing the battery cells for next-generation high-voltage batteries and producing them in small quantities. The most promising battery cell from the BCCC will be scaled up for series processes on a pilot line at the Cell Manufacturing Competence Centre (CMCC) in Parsdorf. Once completed, recycling of surplus material from pilot production in Parsdorf will take place at the new Competence Centre in Kirchroth. The recovered raw materials will then be reused in cell production in Parsdorf. This ensures short distances between all Competence Centres and prevents valuable raw materials from being lost. Following on from the BCCC and CMCC, the CRCC thus represents the next step in the BMW Group’s battery cell strategy on the road to the circular economy.

Joint venture operates Competence Center, intellectual property at the BMW Group

The new CRCC, spanning an area of 2,200 m², will be integrated into the expansion of an existing building in the Kirchroth-Nord industrial park, near Straubing. Electrical energy from the discharged cells will be captured in energy storage systems within the building and used to operate the recycling systems. The energy concept will be rounded out by photovoltaic systems installed on the roof of the building. While the intellectual property for the recycling method is fully owned by the BMW Group – the Competence Centre will be built and operated by Encory GmbH. As a joint venture of the BMW Group and Interzero Group, Encory develops and implements logistics and consulting solutions in areas such as collection, recycling, and remanufacturing of vehicle components. Both partners hold a 50% stake in the company. Around 20 people will be employed in the new Competence Center.

Circular economy at the BMW Group

The BMW Group views the circular economy as one of the key issues in designing more resource-efficient vehicles. The premise is to optimize the circularity of materials. This means resources are not lost, but retain their value for long-term use. The BMW Group applies the principles of Re:Think, Re:Duce, Re:Use and Re:Cycle. From vehicle design and production, to recycling and reuse, everything is geared towards ensuring cars can serve as a source of raw materials for new vehicles at the end of their use phase. Recycling focuses, in particular, on the use of innovative methods to recover high-voltage batteries from electrified vehicles.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group Plant Steyr switches energy supply

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 13:00:00 +0200

Steyr. BMW Group Plant Steyr is switching entirely to district heating for warmth: in regular operations the Austrian engine facility now no longer uses natural gas, relying instead on heat from a nearby biomass powerplant. In a symbolic act, Milan Nedeljković, Board Member for Production at BMW AG, and Arnold Schwarzenegger turned on the new power supply. The change of energy source marks yet another step in the BMW Group’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

Milan Nedeljković, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Production: “We are optimising the carbon footprint of all our production facilities worldwide, using innovative technologies and the potential of the local area to generate energy from fossil fuel-free sources. Today, we are setting a new milestone here in Steyr.”

Consistent reductions in energy consumption

BMW Group Plant Steyr uses around 250 gigawatt hours of energy a year – enough to power about 59,000 homes. Over the last few years, energy consumption has fallen steadily: “Since 2006 we have succeeded in almost halving the amount of energy we use per engine,” explained Plant Director Klaus von Moltke.

Heat supplies play a particularly important role in all of this: “The plant was first connected to the district heating grid in 2012. Since then, there have been multiple expansions,” Klaus von Moltke continued. The transition to purely district heating was expected to reach completion at the turn of the year 2024-2025 but has now been realised two and a half months earlier.

Where the heat comes from: regional district heating from wood chips

The switch would not have been possible without a strong partner in the region: BMW Group Plant Steyr now sources its heat from the biomass powerplant of Fernwärme Steyr, just under a kilometre away. This is operated by the state’s two energy providers – Energie AG Oberösterreich Erzeugung GmbH and EVN Wärme GmbH – in their joint subsidiary, Bioenergie Steyr GmbH. To provide the heat energy that Plant Steyr needs, an additional heat generation plant with a 10-megawatt biomass boiler is being erected at the site. So, Plant Steyr will source its heat from renewable resources: wood chips from the surrounding forests.

Klaus von Moltke summarised the situation saying: “By switching to 100 percent heat from regenerative biomass, we are taking a major step today. Our plant now sources both its electricity and its heat for regular operations from renewables.”

Today’s symbolic energy switch took place on stage as more than a thousand employees looked on. In his keynote speech Arnold Schwarzenegger called on everyone present to act on climate change. He then shut down the plant’s gas supply. Milan Nedeljković, Board Member for Production at BMW AG, then symbolically turned on the final expansion to the district heating supply.

Arnold Schwarzenegger then joined Klaus von Moltke and Milan Nedeljcović for a tour of the training and education centre, engine assembly and BMW Group Plant Steyr’s recently opened electric motor production line, chatting with employees as he went.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Research Cooperation: BMW Group and University of Zagreb Optimize Battery Cell Production with Artificial Intelligence

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0200

Munich/Zagreb. Innovations often arise where experts from different areas and organizations come together. This is exactly what is happening now as part of a research cooperation between the BMW Group's Battery Cell Competence Center (BCCC) and the University of Zagreb's Regional Center of Excellence for Robotic Technology (CRTA).

The two partners are jointly developing solutions to improve the production of battery cells using artificial intelligence (AI). Doctoral candidates and students at the University of Zagreb are collecting and structuring existing production data. Based on this data, AI models are created that can identify certain patterns in the data. This allows them to make predictions on how production can be further optimized in terms of performance, quality and costs.

Battery cell know-how along the entire value chain

The BMW Group bundles its battery cell know-how in its competence centers in Munich and Parsdorf. At the Battery Cell Competence Center (BCCC) in the north of Munich, battery cells for future generations of high-voltage batteries are developed and manufactured in small quantities. State-of-the-art laboratories, research facilities and prototyping facilities cover the know-how along the entire battery cell value chain. The BCCC is complemented by the Cell Manufacturing Competence Center (CMCC) in Parsdorf. The best battery cell from the BCCC is scaled towards a series process at the pilot line in Parsdorf. The close, cross-departmental cooperation between development, purchasing and production uniquely links product and process at the BMW Group.

The importance of European knowledge exchange

The University of Zagreb contributes its expertise in the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science to this project. Both partners benefit from the continuous exchange of knowledge: "As a university, we offer the BMW Group access to the latest research results and innovative ideas, while our students benefit from the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge in practice," says Zdenko Tonković, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture at the University of Zagreb.

Promoting young talents

Another aspect of this cooperation is the promotion of young talents. "Through this joint project, we inspire students for the BMW Group and the innovative work in our battery cell competence centers," explains Moritz Poremba, Head of Battery Cell Recycling Technology Development at the BMW Group. "Of course, we also hope to attract young talents to our company." The students benefit from the cooperation through intensive mentoring and the opportunity to expand their professional network in the industry. This increases their attractiveness on the job market and offers them excellent career opportunities. The cooperation between the BMW Group and the University of Zagreb strengthens the innovative power and competitiveness of both partners.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW M Visionary Materials Seat wins 2024 Altair Enlighten Award in the Sustainable Process category.

Wed, 07 Aug 2024 08:00:00 +0200

Michigan, USA. At an award ceremony at the 2024 Center for Automotive Research Seminar, Altair presented the BMW Group with this year’s prestigious Enlighten Award in the Sustainable Process category, celebrating the premium manufacturer’s progress in innovation. The annual award recognizes innovative lightweight construction and sustainability solutions across the global automotive industry that reduce carbon emissions, minimize water and energy consumption, and promote materials reuse and recycling.

The BMW Group received the award for the BMW M Visionary Materials Seat on the grounds that the research project is a precursor of future product development: Standout achievements were the sustainable seat design and the focus on the entire product lifecycle, making it one of the most innovative and visionary sustainable developments in the global automotive sector.

In addition to BMW M GmbH as the project owner, BMW Group Designworks was responsible for the design, color and material concept of the seat in collaboration with the BMW design team. The project was realized in close cooperation with several partners: Automotive Management Consulting GmbH, Bcomp Ltd, Gradel Lightweight Sàrl and Lasso Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH.

Key themes: design for circularity, lightweight construction and attractive product

As a platform for research on the development of future materials, the award-winning seat focuses on the following key themes:

First, driving the use of plant-based materials and, as part of design for circularity, raising the share of secondary raw materials and increasing recyclability at the end of the lifecycle.

In addition, the team aimed to develop an attractive product in terms of its appearance, quality, lightweight construction and functionality. The minimalist design leaves the lightweight seat structure visible, highlighting its status as a core component. Intensive lifecycle assessments (LCA) complemented the design at each stage of development.

Falco Hollmann, Innovation Manager Lightweight Design & Sustainability at BMW M GmbH, accepted the award: “We are showing today what will be possible tomorrow with existing technologies and materials in order to take our efforts to reduce emissions and conserve resources to the next level. This is about more than just substituting materials; it is above all about designing for circularity.”

Use of natural materials

The core premise of the project was to make the leap to the future while working within today’s framework. The evaluation of available material classes with a high SQR (secondary raw material quota) showed that natural materials are the ideal complement. For example, the seat features natural fibers, fiber composites, leather alternatives and algae-based polymers.

Carbon footprint reduced by 90 percent

The seat’s CO₂e footprint is 90 percent lower than a BMW M carbon bucket seat made today, thanks to the use of ultra-light, robotically-wound fiber composite seat support structures and materials of natural origin as well as the high recycling rate. In addition, lower module complexity and the use of materials grouped by type make it easier to recycle the seat at the end of its lifecycle. The additive manufacturing processes used are also groundbreaking: A new technology made it possible to completely eliminate support structures, chemical post-treatment and finishing from the M BMW Visionary Materials Seat. Other priorities included a flat value creation chain and a minimum of finishing steps to save energy and conserve resources.

Lessons learned for future processes

“One of our biggest lessons was the balancing, in other words, how to model our process chain to generate missing primary data,” explains Roberto Rossetti, Head of Development Total Vehicle-Lifecycle at the BMW Group. “The data obtained provides new insights, both in terms of today’s negative contributing factors and the design of tomorrow’s processes. This experience provides a solid foundation for continuously improving sustainability and developing innovative solutions for forward-thinking mobility.”

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Next step in reducing CO2 from production: BMW Group introduces electrically powered exhaust purification in first paint shops

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0200

Munich. The BMW Group is now powering exhaust purification in its first paint shops electrically. Thanks to a new method, the high temperatures needed for the thermal purification of exhaust from paint booths and drying areas can now be generated by electricity. With that, a further production process can now be carried out without using natural gas.

Michele Melchiorre, Head of Production System, Planning, Tool Shop, Plant Construction at the BMW Group: “For other energy-intensive paint shop processes, such as vehicle drying and water heating, solutions already exist for working without natural gas. So, electric exhaust purification is the final steppingstone for the BMW Group to run its paint shops on regenerative energy in the future.”

The first systems have already been tested at Plant Regensburg and BMW Brilliance in China, and Plant Dingolfing has converted a painting line for the new system to be used in series production. When the BMW Group’s newest plant goes on stream in Debrecen in 2025, it will use only the new method.

eRTO: The gas-free alternative

eRTO (electric regenerative thermal oxidation) is a process whereby gaseous or vaporous substances are burned off at temperatures of up to 1,000° Celsius. Unlike previous methods, it runs purely on electricity.

Before being released into the atmosphere via chimneys, exhaust from paint booths and drying areas is purified to prevent paint shop solvents from harming the environment. This is done by passing it through a bed of ceramic media, where the solvent residues are burned off. To do this, the air has to be heated up to very high temperatures in a short space of time. The energy needed to do this could previously only be provided by natural gas. But the innovative eRTO system now makes it possible to purify exhaust without fossil fuels and use electricity from renewable sources instead.

Electricity not gas – ceramic media retain heat

The eRTO system is installed between the painting booth, drying process and chimney. Thermal energy is recovered by a flat, two-metre-deep ceramic bed where temperatures reach up to 1,000° Celsius and which serves as a recuperator. Electrical heating rods heat the surrounding ceramics, and because most of the heat is retained, with only small amounts escaping, a connected load of just a few hundred kilowatts is sufficient to run the system.

Use in series production at new plant in Debrecen

The eRTO system was initially function-tested in ongoing paint shop operations at BMW Group Plant Regensburg. It is being further validated at BMW Brilliance Plant Lydia in China, where an eRTO system is used to purify exhaust from the drying system for car bonnets. The first European BMW Group facility to use the technology in series paint shop operations is Plant Dingolfing, where the first of four paint lines has already been converted for electric exhaust purification. More such systems are planned for the production network, and the new plant in Debrecen will purify paint shop exhaust only by eRTO.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW’s 5th-Generation Electric Drive System wins 2024 AJAC Best Green Innovation Award.

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 17:07:00 +0100

Richmond Hill, ON. The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) announced BMW’s 5th-Generation Electric Drive System as the winner of their 2024 AJAC Best Green Innovation Award. The AJAC Innovation Awards are awarded annually to the best automotive innovations in three categories: Best Green Innovation, Best Safety Innovation and Best Technical Innovation. This win comes on the heels of the BMW i4 winning AJAC’s 2023 Car of the Year – the first fully electric model to earn the title.

BMW’s 5th-Generation Electric Drive System uses current-excited synchronous motors, which are noted for their absence of rare earth metals. A current-excited synchronous motor comprises a rotating rotor and a fixed stator. As the magnetic field of the rotor is generated by means of electrical current that flows through several coils, the use of rare earths, such as those needed for permanent magnets, can be omitted altogether with this operating principle.

The system’s eDrive unit was also designed to be vastly more serviceable than previous iterations, which reduces servicing costs and waste parts. The majority of the components of the eDrive unit can now be repaired or replaced independently. The eDrive unit is also smaller and lighter than previous generations, improving its power-to-weight ratio by 30%.

The 5th-Generation Electric Drive System can be found in BMW’s award-winning battery-electric vehicles such as the i4, iX, i7 and new i5, as well as BMW’s plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Sustainability was an integral part of the development of the new generation of BMW vehicles. From the sourcing of materials to the vehicles’ production and the recycling of its components in the future. Every step of the value chain was carefully studied to reduce the carbon footprint of new electrified models to the absolute lowest level possible.

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BMW Group in Canada

BMW Group Canada, based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BMW AG and is responsible for the distribution of BMW luxury performance automobiles, Sports Activity Vehicles, Motorcycles, and MINI. BMW Group Financial Services Canada is a division of BMW Group Canada and offers retail financing and leasing programs and protection products on new and pre-owned BMW and MINI automobiles, as well as retail financing for new and pre-owned BMW Motorcycles. A total network of 51 BMW automobile retail centres, 24 BMW motorcycle retailers, and 31 MINI retailers represents the BMW Group across the country.

For more information, please contact:

Marc Belcourt

Director, Corporate Communications

BMW Group Canada

905-428-5078 / marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Jean-Francois Taylor

Product and Technology Manager, Corporate Communications

BMW Group Canada

905-428-5366 / jean-francois.taylor@bmwgroup.ca

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group continues to reduce EU CO2 fleet-wide emissions in 2023

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 09:00:00 +0100

Munich. The BMW Group continues to systematically reduce its fleet-wide CO₂ emissions and is making an important contribution to realising its ambitious CO₂ reduction targets for the whole group.

Based on preliminary internal calculations, the BMW Group’s EU fleet-wide emissions came in at 102.1 grams per kilometre (WLTP) for 2023 (2022: 105 grams per kilometre). This represents a reduction of 2.8 percent from the previous year. The BMW Group also outperformed the applicable fleet target limit for the company set by the European Union EU27+2 (EU, Norway, Iceland) of 128.5 grams per kilometre by 26.4 grams in 2023.

Implementation of the BMW Group’s electrification strategy is a key driver for its continuing efforts to reduce fleet-wide emissions.  In 2023, the company sold a total of 376,183 fully-electric vehicles worldwide – 74.4% more than in 2022. The BMW Group’s sales growth for fully-electric vehicles in 2023 therefore outpaced growth in the total BEV market.

With more than 15 fully-electric models in its line-up, the BMW Group aims to continue its successful BEV growth in 2024. One in five of the company’s newly delivered vehicles should have a fully-electric drive train this year; by 2025, it should be one in four.

In addition to increasing electrification of the BMW Group fleet, continuous further development of conventional drive trains also helped lower CO₂ emissions. The latest update to the drive train kit has further boosted the efficiency of internal combustion engines, especially since autumn 2022.

The BMW Group views continuous emissions reduction across its vehicle fleet as an integral part of its sustainability strategy. By 2030, the company plans to reduce its total CO₂ emissions by at least 40 percent per vehicle from 2019 levels. The aim is to achieve this throughout the entire value chain – from the supply chain to production to the use phase. The BMW Group plans to be climate-neutral no later than 2050.

With these objectives, the BMW Group is pursuing a path that is in line with the Paris climate goal for limiting global warming. The company is the first German automotive manufacturer to join the “Business Ambition for 1.5° C” campaign launched by the Science-Based Targets Initiative and also part of the United Nations’ international Race to Zero campaign.

The delivery figures reported in this press release are provisional and may change up until the BMW Group Report 2023 is published.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

One line – two brands – three drives: BMW Group Plant Leipzig launches production of the MINI Countryman

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 10:30:00 +0100

Leipzig. The start of MINI Countryman production marks a number of firsts and milestones for BMW Group Plant Leipzig: for the first time, a MINI model is being made in Germany – on the same production line as the BMW 1 Series and 2 Series. It’s all made possible by the plant’s flexible structures and development. Over the last five years the BMW Group has invested €700 million to ready Leipzig for increased vehicle volumes and adapt it for MINI-specific requirements. By the end of 2024 the workforce in production will increase by over 900. In addition, the new MINI Countryman is a catalyst for innovations in sustainable production.

“By launching production of the MINI Countryman here in Leipzig, we are introducing multibrand operations to our flexible production system,” explained Milan Nedeljković, Board Member for Production. “Plant Leipzig also offers a number of highlights in terms of resource conservation in production, providing further evidence of the successful rollout of our long-term masterplan: the BMW iFACTORY.”

Seamless integration through flexible structures

When it comes to production of the new MINI Countryman, the BMW Group is building on the skills and extreme flexibility of Plant Leipzig to forge new pathways in manufacturing. Seamlessly integrated into the production process, the MINI Countryman now rolls off the same assembly line as the BMW 1 Series, BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé and BMW 2 Series Active Tourer.

Thanks to its flexible assembly structures, Plant Leipzig is in a position to produce two brands with three different drives – combustion, plug-in-hybrid and fully electric – all on the same production line. The third-generation MINI Countryman will be available with a petrol, diesel or fully electric powertrain, with the high-voltage batteries for the MINI Countryman Electric also being made in Leipzig. It will reach dealerships on 17 February 2024.

Investments and recruitment to increase production volume

The BMW Group has invested some €500 million in Leipzig to increase production volume for new models. Since 2018 the bodyshop, paintshop, assembly and logistics have undergone extensive additions and upgrades, taking production capacity up from 250,000 units previously, to as much as 350,000 units a year at present.

To adapt the production system to MINI-specific requirements, the BMW Group invested around €200 million. Initially approx. 100 MINI Countryman cars a day will roll off the production lines, rising to 500 during the course of next year – in addition to the almost 1,000 BMW cars already coming out of the factory every day. This will not only secure existing jobs but also create up to 900 new ones in vehicle production alone.

Electromobility and MINI production drive development

Another important milestone in the development and extension of Plant Leipzig is its transition to electromobility. “Leipzig remains electric,” says a cheerful Petra Peterhänsel, Plant Director. “With the BMW i3 and i8, we were at the vanguard of e-mobility at the BMW Group, and from 2024, we will be producing our next fully electric car: the MINI Countryman Electric. We will manufacture the high-voltage batteries for it in-house as well.”

Starting next year BMW Group Plant Leipzig will run the entire production process for the current fifth generation of high-voltage batteries. This consists of three stages: cell coating, module production and battery assembly. The five cell coating lines, three module production lines and the first high-voltage battery assembly lines are all in the process of going into operation, with a second high-voltage battery assembly line scheduled for launch in 2024.

Capacity for e-component production has also been increasing, since 2021, making Plant Leipzig an important a supplier across the BMW production network. The parts are used in fully electric vehicles such as the BMW iX1, BMW i4, BMW i5 and BMW iX. E-component production in Leipzig currently employs over 800 people, and there are plans to develop it further, with investments totalling more than €800 million.

Sustainable materials and production

The MINI Countryman Electric is a major step in the MINI brand’s transition to full electrification by 2030 and combines an electrified go-kart feel with a reduced environmental footprint. In developing the new model, the MINI brand’s responsible attitude was very much in the focus with regard to materials and production: chrome no longer features anywhere in the interior or exterior, and the light-metal alloy wheels are cast from up to 70 percent secondary aluminium. The permanently electrically excited synchronous motors are highly efficient and made entirely without rare earth minerals.

The interior is made purely from innovative, high-quality materials that are easy on the environment. The dashboard, door facias, floor covering and foot mats, for example, are made of recycled textiles. A high-quality alternative to conventional materials such as plastics, recycled textiles reduce CO₂ emissions along the value chain and require less water to manufacture.

Innovative painting method for contrast roof

One of the striking design features of the MINI exterior is the contrast roof, which can be ordered in a different colour from the rest of the body. In the MINI Countryman it will be painted using a new, resource-friendly method known as overspray-free painting. Currently being readied for series operation, overspray-free painting does away with the excess paint – or overspray – generated by conventional painting methods and makes surfaces with more than one colour easier to produce, as they no longer require the laborious process of masking. Overspray-free painting also helps save CO₂ emissions, as exhaust air from the cabin requires less cleansing. Plus it requires considerably less conditioned air, i.e. air that is brought to a set temperature and humidity. As a result, less energy is needed to temper air and treat exhaust.

Another sustainable innovation operating at Plant Leipzig is the burner technology used to dry the paint on contrast roofs. Last year Leipzig became the first car plant in the world to pilot the new technology, which can run on not only natural gas but also hydrogen. The flexible burners can burn hydrogen (H2), natural gas (methane – CH4) or a mixture of the two and can even switch between them without having to halt operations. After successful tests, Plant Leipzig has now installed five hydrogen-capable bivalent burners for series operations, which are now being used for the contrast roof of the MINI Countryman. Plans are in place to convert further burners in the paintshop to bivalent operations.

Plant Leipzig – Built for sustainability

At Plant Leipzig, the focus has always been very much on efficient processes and a long-term strategy for energy generation and consumption, ever since planning began. “Sustainability is in the DNA of BMW Group Plant Leipzig. There’s one example that everyone can see: our four wind turbines, which generate electricity for the plant,” Petra Peterhänsel explained. They were erected in 2013 and deliver 10 MW (generating approx. 25 GWh/year). The second milestone came in 2017, when the battery storage farm went on stream. Equipped with up to 700 second-life high-voltage batteries from BMW i3 vehicles, it offers interim electricity storage for energy from the wind turbines and elsewhere, helping to optimise local energy management and stabilise the grid.

“Our vision at Plant Leipzig is to decarbonise production as far as possible by replacing fossil fuels with green hydrogen,” said Petra Peterhänsel, explaining the long-term focus of the facility. This will require sufficient green hydrogen from a grid. A regional hydrogen grid is currently in planning, with Plant Leipzig set to benefit.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Strong performance under extreme conditions: the BMW iX5 Hydrogen undergoes test drives in the desert.

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 09:00:00 +0200

Munich/Dubai. The vehicles in the BMW iX5 Hydrogen pilot fleet, which launched in February this year, have completed an intensive round of hot-weather testing in the United Arab Emirates for the first time. The car’s fuel cell drive system performed impressively in the face of temperatures rising to 45°C, as well as sand and dust, varying gradients and significant fluctuations in humidity.

The highly efficient fuel cell system, the two hydrogen tanks, the electric motor and the power battery teamed up with the central vehicle control unit to demonstrate their outstanding performance and state of readiness. The Munich-based development team examined both the functionality of all the electric systems under the extreme conditions and the provision of the cooling power to enable the full performance of the vehicle. The vehicles were able to ensure the driving dynamics for which BMW is renowned.

The BMW iX5 Hydrogen goes around the world
Vehicles from the pilot fleet are currently in action in Europe, Japan, Korea, China, the USA and the Middle East. The aim is to shine a spotlight on the everyday usability of hydrogen-powered vehicles, and beyond that to gain important knowledge for the development of a potential series-produced model. The BMW Group is using the pilot fleet to provide support on a regional level for the development of a refuelling infrastructure which can be used with 700-bar refuelling technology across all categories of vehicle – from passenger cars and small vans to buses and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Synergies between different areas of application also offer important scope for developing a strong network of suppliers in hydrogen technology and reducing costs.

The BMW iX5 Hydrogen combines long-distance capability and short refuelling stops with locally emission-free driving. Provided the relevant framework is in place, the hydrogen fuel cell technology has the potential to serve as another pillar in the BMW Group’s future drive system portfolio.

As part of its ongoing transformation, the BMW Group is applying a “technology-open” approach when it comes to drive systems. The company is therefore adapting to different customer requirements, infrastructure standards and political and regulatory landscapes in the various regions of the world. This flexibility puts the BMW Group in the position to respond quickly to changing requirements in the markets in any situation and to present an attractive offer for as many customers as possible at all times.

The BMW iX5 Hydrogen has a fuel cell system generating output of 125 kW/170 hp and a highly integrated drive unit using fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology (the electric motor, transmission and power electronics are grouped together in a compact housing). The output of the overall drive system is 295 kW / 401 hp. The hydrogen needed to power the fuel cell is stored in a pair of 700-bar tanks made from carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP). Together, these tanks can hold around six kilograms of hydrogen. This storage capacity gives the BMW iX5 Hydrogen a range of 504 km (313 miles) in the WLTP cycle.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Strong performance under extreme conditions: the BMW iX5 Hydrogen undergoes test drives in the desert.

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 09:00:00 +0200

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group to build logistics centre for high-voltage batteries in north of Leipzig

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 10:30:00 +0200

Leipzig. The BMW Group continues to invest in e-component production at Plant Leipzig and in the future of the site. A leasehold contract has now been signed for an area of land outside the plant premises, on the northern industrial estate – which is also home to the existing facility. The new plot for use by BMW consists of 12 hectares in total, eight of which will be built on in the first stage of construction. This will produce a logistics hall for the current fifth-generation high-voltage batteries and an office building, both of which are due to reach completion in mid-2024.

To mark the start of construction of the Supply Centre North, Petra Peterhänsel, Plant Director, Jens Köhler, Works Council Chairman, Frank Hager, Head of Production for High-Voltage Batteries, Clemens Schülke, Mayor and Alderman for Business, Labour and Digital in the City of Leipzig and Anja Hähle-Posselt, Director of the Office for Economic Development of the City of Leipzig, were joined by Karsten Dickerboom, representing the construction company Max Bögl Stiftung & Co KG, to perform the symbolic turning of the first sod.

Building the future

“These days car production is just as much a part of Leipzig’s economic DNA as the trade fair. We’re delighted that an already strong cluster is now growing further. What’s more, the focus will be on an eco-friendly footprint throughout. With this extension, BMW is sending out a clear signal around Leipzig as a base and electromobility. We are happy to partner the company and support the positive development of these areas,” said Mayor Clemens Schülke.

Plant Director Petra Peterhänsel also sees the transition to electromobility as an important building block in the plant’s development: “Leipzig continues to power ahead. Making the BMW i3, we were the BMW Group’s pioneer in electromobility. Now, with the development of e-component production and the upcoming launch of the MINI Countryman, the future is already taking shape.”

Investment in the transition to electromobility

In the first stage of construction, a warehouse, a two-storey office building and a loading tunnel with a combined gross area of 38,000 m² will be erected. There are also plans for a second construction stage, which will take the total investment to as much as 100 million euros. When all the construction work is complete, the new buildings at the Supply Centre North will provide workplaces for approx. 500 employees.

By 2026 the BMW Group aims for at least one in three new cars sold to be fully electric, so the need for high-voltage batteries will increase. Plant Leipzig is already a cornerstone in supplying e-components for the production network and provides one in three battery modules for the BMW Group’s fully electric vehicles. These include the BMW iX1, the BMW i5 and the BMW iX. With the new hall as a logistics centre for high-voltage batteries, Plant Leipzig is embracing this role even further, with a building that meets all the structural requirements for handling high-voltage components.

Beyond compliance: Stringent environmental standards

Planning the logistics hall, the team applied stringent environmental standards that go above and beyond legal requirements. The buildings will be powered not by fossil fuels, for example. Photovoltaic systems on the roof of the hall will generate approx. 3,000 kW in peak operations. In addition the hall will be heated by a heat pump. The office building will have a green roof, and trees at strategic points along the façade will keep indoor temperatures cool when the weather outside is hot.

The outside space will be landscaped with over 5,700 new shrubs and trees. This will continue the City of Leipzig and the BMW Group’s efforts to add to the green ring around the plant on the Northern Industrial Estate. Outdoor areas will be illuminated by insect-friendly lights, and parking spaces will be equipped with electric charging points for cars and trucks so that electric heavy goods vehicles can operate between the plant and warehouse.

E-component production as the powerhouse for the future of Leipzig

One of the drivers behind the extensive additions that are currently being made to Plant Leipzig – both on the premises and off – is e-component production. Measures will safeguard existing jobs and increase the number of new ones. At the moment more than 800 employees work in e-component production in Leipzig, rising to over 1,000 by 2024. Further jobs will be created with service providers.

From next year BMW Plant Leipzig will run all three stages of the high-voltage battery production process: cell coating, module production and high-voltage battery assembly. E-component production capacity has been steadily increasing since 2021, and at present battery cells are coated and assembled into modules there. One in three battery modules for fully electric vehicles by the BMW Group already comes from Leipzig today, and a battery assembly system is currently under construction, expected to go on stream early next year. The BMW Group is investing up to 1 billion euros in extending e-component production at Leipzig.

With BMW i3 production now phased out, 2024 will see Plant Leipzig launch its next fully electric model: the new MINI Countryman. The crossover will come with a choice of combustion engines or a fully electric drive, the high-voltage batteries for the latter being made directly in Plant Leipzig’s workshops.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Promoting biodiversity delivers results: Plant grounds becoming greener and greener

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 09:00:00 +0200

Dingolfing. The green spaces and flowering meadows at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing are alive with crawling, buzzing and flying creatures. In addition to the many bird species, butterflies and grasshoppers, bees and dragonflies also feel at home here. The site in Lower Bavaria is constantly working to preserve and increase biodiversity on the plant grounds. Measures range from creating flowering meadows, biotopes and greened roofs, to establishing bee colonies and carefully managing the site’s green spaces. External biologists support the plant’s own sustainability specialists with their professional expertise.

“We see ourselves as a partner for the region that takes environmental and social responsibility,” confirms Plant Director Christoph Schröder. “This is one of the reasons why we are not only making our plant more and more green in the broader sense – by improving energy savings and resource efficiency in vehicle production – but also in the literal sense, by promoting biological diversity around our production halls and office buildings.”

Growing number of greened roofs and green spaces

In spring 2020, Plant 02.10 became the first production building at the BMW Group site in Dingolfing to install a greened roof. Rooftop greening has since been significantly expanded from the 4,000-square-metre roof that was freshly sown at that time. By the end of 2023, a total of around 31,000 square metres of roof surfaces will be greened – an area the size of about five soccer fields. The extensive, near-natural greened roofs provide food and a place of refuge for wild bees, butterflies and beetles, among others. Planted with herbaceous and flowering sedum plants, these industrial greened roofs not only create a habitat for insects, but also have a positive effect on the indoor climate in the halls below them. In summer, evaporation produces a cooling effect; during the colder months, greened roofs help with heat insulation. The roof structure also serves as a retention tank: Rainwater is absorbed and released with a delay, which means fewer infiltration systems are required across the grounds. Greened roofs can store an average of 40 litres of water per square metre.

BMW Group Plant Dingolfing is also turning more and more of its green spaces into flowerbeds, as well as creating biotopes and planting fruit trees. “Only recently, for example, green spaces around Plant 02.20 were upgraded by creating an orchard and a biotope area,” explains Irene Auburger, responsible for biodiversity issues at the site. There are currently over 100 fruit trees across the site that were planted within the past two to three years. There are also a large number of other native tree species, including oaks, beech trees and maples, as well as wild cherries and hawthorns. The grounds of Vehicle Plant 02.40 alone are home to more than 1,000 trees. Green spaces are now also mowed less frequently to expand the ecological habitats. Switching to low-maintenance grass means that most areas are now only mowed twice a year. The grass is also mowed in two sections to ensure the insects always have somewhere to live.

Mini-forest at the heart of the plant

“Our goal is to increase the ratio of flowering and green spaces at the plant as much as possible. For instance, in the near future, we will be planting autochthonous, i.e. native, wild hedges, to make our site even more biodiverse,” says Auburger. "We also plan to create a tiny forest at Plant 02.40. This very densely-planted, fast-growing mini-forest will quickly form a resilient ecosystem – a piece of wilderness right in the middle of the plant, so to speak, where insects, birds and small mammals can live. Only native trees will be planted in this tiny forest as well.”

New homes for even more plant bees

Expanding near-natural areas also enriches the bees' pollen-gathering area. The hard-working honey producers have made the site their home since 2019. The bee-keeping project was the idea of apiarist and BMW Group employee Stefan Fleischmann, who still takes care of the insects’ well-being and also handles breeding. “We are currently in the process of establishing new bee colonies – and would love to make the plant home to a million bees,” says the bee-keeper. The number of beehives in the Dingolfing plant cluster network has now increased to over 20.

In the future, the plant’s bees won’t just "do their work" at Vehicle Plant 02.40, but also at Plant 02.20 and Plant 02.70 – the Dynamics Centre – where two to four new bee colonies will be established. Nevertheless, Vehicle Plant 02.40 will still house most of the bees. Two new beehives, as the wooden structures in which honey bees make their home are called, are located near the administration building, while the rest live in a new “bee wagon” on the west side of the grounds. Fleischmann expanded and converted the wagon himself. Two large flaps on each of the longer sides form entrances and exits for the bees. "It helps me stay dry while I’m working with the bees and also protects the colonies," says the bee-keeping expert. The wagon can accommodate up to 30 colonies. Depending on the time of year, each colony has between 5,000 and 50,000 bees. “As pollinators, bees are of tremendous ecological importance. That’s why it is important to us to protect and support these insects," says Auburger.

Reduced lighting

By gradually reducing its light emissions, the site is also helping protect insects and birds – and thus preserving biodiversity. At Plant 02.91 in Wallersdorf, night-time lighting has already been reduced by about 30 percent during operating hours and by as much as 90 percent outside of operating hours. As little lighting is used as possible and only where absolutely necessary. This ensures that insects and birds are no longer disturbed in their natural behaviour by excessive light during dark hours.

Further information

BMW Group Plant Dingolfing documents its wide-ranging activities in the field of environmental and climate protection in its current environmental statement. The report, which has been validated by the German Technical Inspection Association (TÜV), is available under the following link on the BMW Group Dingolfing webpage:

Captions

Photo 01: Almost 32,000 m2 of the factory roofs of the BMW Group Plant in Dingolfing will be greened by end of 2023.

Photo 03: The new mobile bee truck in the 02.40 plant provides shelter for several bee colonies at the same time.

Photo 04: Planned increase to over 1 million bees at the site.

Photo 05: Biotopes in plants 02.40, 02.20 and 02.70 serve as green compensation areas and habitat for insects and small mammals.

Photo 06: Biotopes at the site promote biodiversity.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Julian Friedrich, BMW Group Plant Dingolfing, head of Communications

Telephone: 49 8731 76 22020, Email: Julian.Friedrich@bmw.de

Bianca Hölzl, BMW Group Plant Dingolfing, Communications

Telephone: +49 8731 76 25434, Email: Bianca.Hoelzl@bmw.de.

Media website: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en www.bmw-werk-dingolfing.de

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmwgroupwerkdingolfing/

Email: presse@bmw.de

BMW Group Plant Dingolfing

Plant Dingolfing is the BMW Group’s largest European production site.

Over 1,500 BMW 4 Series, 5 Series, 6 Series, 7 Series and 8 Series cars, as well as the fully-electric BMW iX, come off its production lines every day. Around 282,000 vehicles were built at the plant in 2022.

More than 18,000 people currently work at the site and 850 apprentices are being trained in 15 occupations. This makes the BMW Group site in Dingolfing not only the region's biggest employer by far, but also one of the country's largest industrial production sites and vocational training facilities.

In addition to cars, vehicle components such as pressed parts and chassis and drive systems are also produced in Dingolfing. Component plant 02.20 is also home to the company-wide Competence Centre for E-Drive Production, which supplies the BMW Group’s vehicle plants worldwide with electric motors and high-voltage batteries for production of plug-in hybrids and pure electric models.

The car bodies for all Rolls-Royce models are also built at the site. The so-called Dynamics Centre, a large storage and transshipment facility at the heart of the BMW Group’s aftersales logistics, provides the global BMW and MINI retailer organisation with original parts and equipment.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group brings hydrogen cars to the road: BMW iX5 Hydrogen pilot fleet launches.

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 09:00:00 +0100

Munich / Antwerp. The BMW Group is presenting international media representatives with the first vehicles in a pilot fleet that will go into service this year. After four years of development work, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen vehicle and development project is entering its critical next phase.

The fleet of under 100 vehicles will then be employed internationally for demonstration and trial purposes for various target groups. This active driving experience will therefore be the first chance for people not involved in the development process to gain a direct impression of what the BMW iX5 Hydrogen has to offer.

“Hydrogen is a versatile energy source that has a key role to play in the energy transition process and therefore in climate protection. After all, it is one of the most efficient ways of storing and transporting renewable energies”, said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. “We should use this potential to also accelerate the transformation of the mobility sector. Hydrogen is the missing piece in the jigsaw when it comes to emission-free mobility. One technology on its own will not be enough to enable climate-neutral mobility worldwide.”

The BMW iX5 Hydrogen.
The BMW iX5 Hydrogen developed on the basis of the current BMW X5 was first unveiled as a concept at the IAA show in 2019. Initial prototypes were then made available at the IAA Mobility 2021 for visitors to experience in action as shuttle vehicles.

Its hydrogen fuel cell system is further proof of the BMW Group’s leading development expertise in the field of electric drive technologies. The BMW Group is systematically pushing forward with development of hydrogen fuel cell technology as an additional option for locally emission-free individual mobility in the future.

BMW’s technological expertise.
The BMW Group produces the highly efficient fuel cell systems for the pilot fleet at its in-house competence centre for hydrogen in Munich. This technology is one of the core elements in the BMW iX5 Hydrogen and generates a high continuous output of 125 kW/170 hp.

A chemical reaction takes place in the fuel cell between gaseous hydrogen from the tanks and oxygen from the air. Maintaining a steady supply of both elements to the fuel cell’s membrane is of crucial importance for the drive system’s efficiency. In addition to the technological equivalents of features found on combustion engines, such as charge air coolers, air filters, control units and sensors, the BMW Group also developed special hydrogen components for its new fuel cell system. These include the high-speed compressor with turbine and high-voltage coolant pump, for instance.

The BMW Group sources the individual fuel cells from the Toyota Motor Corporation. The two companies have enjoyed a partnership characterised by trust for many years and have been collaborating on fuel cell drive systems since 2013.

Fuel cell systems are manufactured in two main steps, based on the individual fuel cells. The cells are first assembled into a fuel cell stack. The next step involves fitting all the other components to produce a complete fuel cell system.

Stacking of the fuel cells is largely a fully automated process. Once the individual components have been inspected for any damage, the stack is compressed by machine with a force of five tonnes and placed in a housing. The stack housing is manufactured in the light metal foundry at BMW Group Plant Landshut using a sand casting technique.

For this, molten aluminium is poured into a mould made from compacted sand mixed with resin in a process specially designed for this small-series vehicle.

The pressure plate, which delivers hydrogen and oxygen to the fuel cell stack, is made from cast plastic parts and light-alloy castings, also from the Landshut plant. The pressure plate forms a gas-tight and water-tight seal around the stack housing.

Final assembly of the fuel cell stacks includes a voltage test along with extensive testing of the chemical reaction within the cells. Finally, all the different components are fitted together in the assembly area to produce the complete system.

During this system assembly stage, further components are fitted, such as the compressor, the anode and cathode of the fuel-cell system, the high-voltage coolant pump and the wiring harness.

In combination with a highly integrated drive unit using fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology (the electric motor, transmission and power electronics are grouped together in a compact housing) at the rear axle and a power battery with lithium-ion technology developed specially for this vehicle, the powertrain channels maximum output of 295kW / 401 hp onto the road. In coasting overrun and braking phases, the motor also serves as a generator, feeding energy back into a power battery.

Production at Munich pilot plant.
The BMW iX5 Hydrogen is being built in the BMW Group’s pilot plant at its Research and Innovation Centre (FIZ) in Munich. This is the interface between development and production where every new model from the company’s brands is made for the first time. Around 900 people work there in the body shop, assembly, model engineering, concept vehicle construction and additive manufacturing.
They are tasked with ensuring that both the product and the manufacturing process are ready for series production. In the case of the BMW iX5 Hydrogen, specialists in hydrogen technology, vehicle development and initial assembly of new models have been working closely together to integrate the cutting-edge drive and energy storage technology.

Hydrogen allows rapid re-fuelling.
The hydrogen needed to supply the fuel cell is stored in two 700-bar tanks made of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP). Together these hold almost six kilograms of hydrogen, enough to give the BMW iX5 Hydrogen a range of 504 km (313 miles) in the WLTP cycle. Filling up the hydrogen tanks only takes three to four minutes – so the BMW iX5 Hydrogen can also provide the driving pleasure for which BMW is renowned over long distances, with just a few, short stops along the way.

Summary of the technical data, performance, fuel consumption and range figures for the BMW iX5 Hydrogen:

Maximum output of overall drive system: 295 kW/401 hp
Electric continuous output of the fuel-cell system: 125 kW/170 hp
Maximum output of the battery (lithium-ion technology): 170 kW/231 hp
Maximum output of the highly integrated electric drive unit: 295 kW/401 hp
Capacity of the hydrogen tanks: 6 kg hydrogen (gaseous)
Acceleration 0-100 km/h (62 mph) < 6 s
Top speed: Over 180 km/h (112 mph)
Hydrogen consumption in the WLTP cycle: 1.19 kg/100 km
Range in the WLTP cycle: 504 km (313 miles)

FCEV technology contributes to decarbonisation.
The BMW Group is the first German carmaker to have joined the “Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign” led by the Science Based Targets initiative and is committed to achieving the goal of full climate neutrality throughout the value chain.

The next step in this process involves the BMW Group’s plan to reduce CO₂ emissions per vehicle over its full lifecycle – i.e. supply chain, production and use phase – by at least 40 per cent by 2030 compared with 2019.

The BMW Group sold more than 215,000 fully electric vehicles worldwide in 2022, which represents an increase over the previous year of almost 108 per cent. Fully electric vehicles accounted for just under 9 per cent of total sales volumes last year, and this share is set to increase to 15 per cent in 2023.

By 2030 at the latest, the BMW Group is looking to reach a situation where fully electric vehicles claim a more than 50 per cent share of its overall sales.

The BMW Group views FCEV technology expressly as a potential addition to the drive technology used by battery-electric vehicles.

Hydrogen as part of global activities for CO₂-free mobility.
According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), hydrogen offers considerable potential as a future energy source in connection with global energy transition activities. Thanks to its storage and transport capabilities, hydrogen can be used for a wide variety of applications.
Most industrialised countries are therefore adopting hydrogen strategies and backing them up with roadmaps and concrete projects. In the transport sector, hydrogen can become a further technology option, alongside battery-electric mobility, for shaping sustainable individual mobility in the long term.

However, this will depend on competitive production of sufficient quantities of hydrogen from green power, as well as expansion of the corresponding filling infrastructure, which is already being intensively pursued in many countries.

The BMW Group welcomes and supports activities to promote innovation in Germany and Europe that will help build a hydrogen economy and accelerate production of green hydrogen. These specifically include the large-scale hydrogen projects classified as Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI).

The projects that comprise this European Union initiative, supported in Germany by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Transport, span the entire value chain – from hydrogen production to transport to applications in industry.

With the right conditions, hydrogen fuel cell technology has the potential to become a further pillar in the BMW Group’s drive train portfolio for local CO₂-free mobility.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group Announces $1.7 Billion (USD) Investment to Build Electric Vehicles in the U.S. and Signs Agreement with Envision AESC for the Supply of Battery Cells to Plant Spartanburg

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 17:00:00 +0200

Spartanburg (USA)/Munich. The BMW Group continues the roll-out of its electromobility plan with a new investment in the U.S. to expand Plant Spartanburg and the company’s manufacturing footprint in the U.S. BMW Group Chairman of the Board of Management, Oliver Zipse, announced today a $1.7 billion investment in its U.S. operations, including $1 billion to prepare for the production of electric vehicles at the company’s existing U.S. manufacturing facility in South Carolina, and $700 million to build a new high-voltage battery assembly facility in nearby Woodruff, SC. By 2030 BMW Group will build at least six fully electric models in the U.S.

Zipse was joined today at Plant Spartanburg by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey III, Chairman of Spartanburg County Council Economic Development Committee, David Britt, and Woodruff, SC Mayor, Kenneth Gist as he also announced an agreement to source next generation lithium-ion battery cells from Envision AESC, which will build a new plant in the state.

“For decades, Plant Spartanburg has been a cornerstone of the global success of the BMW Group. The home of the BMW X models that are so popular all over the world. Going forward, it will also be a major driver for our electrification strategy, and we will produce at least six fully electric BMW X models here by 2030. That means: The ‘Home of the X’ is also becoming the ‘Home of the Battery Electric Vehicle’,” said Zipse on Wednesday. “In addition, we can showcase BMW Group’s ‘local for local’ principle: Our newly developed sixth generation battery cells, which were specifically designed for the next generation electric vehicles, will be sourced here in South Carolina – where X goes electric.”

Envision AESC Battery Cell Plant in South Carolina to Supply Plant Spartanburg

In line with the principle of "local for local,” the BMW Group aims to purchase battery cells for its electric vehicles where production takes place. The company has found a partner in Envision AESC, which will build a new battery cell factory in South Carolina, to supply Plant Spartanburg. Envision will produce newly developed round lithium-ion battery cells, which were specifically designed for the sixth generation of BMW eDrive technology, and will be used in the next generation electric vehicles. The annual capacity of the battery cell factory will be up to 30 GWh.

The new battery format will increase energy density by more than 20 percent, improve charging speed by up to 30 percent and enhance range by up to
30 percent. At the same time, CO₂ emissions from cell production will be reduced by up to 60 percent through the partial use of secondary lithium, cobalt and nickel material, as well as renewable energy for production.

The cooperation with Envision AESC is an important step in the BMW Group's plan to strengthen its regional supply chains. The expansion of electric vehicle production in combination with a local battery cell factory will lead to the creation of new supply chains, new networks for sub-suppliers, and new jobs throughout the entire region.

BMW Group has already announced that four additional battery cell factories will be built in Europe and China to meet its demand for next generation battery cells. The cell factories are being built by partners and will each have an annual capacity of up to 20 GWh.

Increased Investment and Expanded Manufacturing Capacity in SC

Of the new $1.7 billion investment announced today, $700 million will be used to build a new high-voltage BMW battery assembly center in Woodruff, SC, near Plant Spartanburg. The new facility will encompass over 1 million sq. ft., and produce next generation batteries for fully electric vehicles. Around 300 new jobs will be created on site.

Plant Spartanburg currently produces lithium-ion battery modules for the two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles built at the plant, the BMW X3 xDrive30e (fuel consumption combined: 2.6-2.0 l/100 km WLTP; power consumption combined: 20.5-18.9 kWh/100 km WLTP, CO₂ emissions combined: 59-45 g/km WLTP) and BMW X5 xDrive45e (fuel consumption in l/100 km combined: 1.7-1.2 WLTP; power consumption in kWh/100 km combined: 27.7-24.3 WLTP; CO₂ emissions in g/km combined: 39-27 WLTP.). In 2021, nearly 70,000 electrified BMWs were built on site. The site in Woodruff will also leverage the experience and expertise developed in Plant Spartanburg’s existing operations at the new facility.

“BMW’s sustained and impactful presence in South Carolina demonstrates the power of partnership and shared commitment to our state’s automotive industry success,” said Governor McMaster. “With today’s announcement of a $1 billion expansion to Plant Spartanburg for manufacturing electric vehicles as well as $700 million for a new plant in Woodruff to assemble battery units, the road to the future is here. And I applaud BMW on helping lead the way.”

BMW Group Plant Spartanburg

Plant Spartanburg was established 30 years ago and began producing vehicles two years later. Since then, the plant has become the global center of competence for BMW Sports Activity Vehicles and a critical component of the company’s global production network. The plant currently represents an investment of nearly $12 billion, employs more than 11,000, and has an annual capacity of up to 450,000 vehicles. To date more than six million BMW vehicles have been built in the U.S. – for the U.S. and global markets. Based on this strength, BMW has been the largest automotive exporter from the U.S. by value for the past eight years.

Plant Spartanburg currently produces 11 models including the BMW X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles, four BMW M models and two plug-in hybrid electric models. Production of the all-new hybrid-electric BMW XM (fuel consumption in l/100 km combined: 1.6-1.5 WLTP; power consumption in kWh/100 km combined: 30.1-28.9 WLTP; CO2 emissions in g/km combined: 36-33 WLTP. Preliminary figures that have not yet been officially confirmed.) will begin later this year.

The plant is supported by more than 300 suppliers in the U.S., including over 40 direct tier 1 suppliers in South Carolina alone.

“This is a very important step for Plant Spartanburg as we continue our legacy of producing high-quality vehicles, and build on the success of the last 30 years,” said Robert Engelhorn, President and CEO, BMW Manufacturing Co. “With this latest investment, we futureproof our operations and prepare the plant for electrification and new technologies, ensuring both the long-term success of our company and our position as an attractive and viable employer in the state of South Carolina.”

Ongoing Commitment in the U.S.

In addition to sales and marketing operations, the BMW Group footprint in the U.S. consists of nearly 30 locations in 12 different states, including an advanced design studio, a technology research and development center, and a venture capital fund in California, BMW Group Financial Services, and BMW Manufacturing Corporation, which operates Plant Spartanburg in South Carolina. The BMW Group dealer network consists of nearly 650 independently owned BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad dealers nationwide. Taken together, the BMW Group’s operatons in the U.S. directly and indirectly provide and support more than 120,000 jobs in the U.S., and has contributed $43.3 billion to the U.S. economy.

“Technology Openness” and Customer Focused Flexibility

BMW Group is clearly focused on a sustainable future and shares common ambition in the U.S. with regard to climate goals and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, the company is following a path of “technology openness” to offer a choice of fully electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and highly-efficient internal combustion options to its customers in meeting their diverse needs in vastly different geographies across the nation. BMW Group is committed to fulfilling its goal of making a minimum of 50% of its global sales battery electric vehicles by 2030.

360-Degree Approach

BMW Group has also set an initial target to reduce CO₂ emissions by 40% per vehicle by 2030. As BMW Group works towards the goal of climate neutrality, the company is focused on the reduction of CO₂ emissions throughout a vehicle’s entire life cycle.

Design and Engineering: Beyond simply electrifying its product portfolio, BMW Group begins the design and engineering phase of vehicle development with a ‘secondary first’ approach, so that currently on average nearly 30 percent of materials used in BMW Group vehicles are recycled or reused. In the longer term, the “secondary first” approach aims to increase this figure to 50 percent.
Supply Chain and Procurement: BMW Group has been actively involved for many years in initiatives to develop standards for responsible raw material extraction and promote compliance with environmental and social standards for raw material extraction through certification of mines. The cobalt and lithium used as raw materials for the new generation of BMW battery cells will be sourced from certified mines which allows the company retains full transparency over extraction methods and ensures responsible mining.
Vehicle Production: BMW Group’s global production network also relies on renewable energy such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power in the manufacturing phase of its vehicles. All of the company’s production sites have been net CO₂ neutral by offsets since 2021.
Vehicle Use Phase: BMW Group is also working to ensure that the electricity generated to charge battery electric vehicles is done so sustainably. For example, partnerships with dairy farms in California reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capturing methane gas and transforming it into renewable energy, which is exported to the power grid. The company also operates a pilot program called ChargeForward in the San Francisco Bay Area which makes it possible for owners to charge their vehicles with as much solar energy as possible.
Vehicle Recycling & Post-Life:From the start BMW Group vehicles are designed with recycling in mind, thereby improving the possibility for components to be recycled or reused. The company has already demonstrated the ability to recover more than 90% of the material from high-voltage batteries and has approximately 3,000 collection points worldwide for the recycling of end-of-life vehicles.

As the BMW Group continues towards an electric future, the company is looking beyond the vehicles themselves to ensure that it delivers sustainable solutions across the value chain and throughout the entire lifecycle of the vehicle. In the U.S. BMW currently offers two fully electric vehicles including the BMW iX Sports Activity Vehicle and the BMW i4 Gran Coupe. The fully electric
BMW i7 Sedan (power consumption in kWh/100 km combined: 19.6-18.4 WLTP) will come to market later this year and BMW will make a significant step forward. For more information about the BMW Group’s focus on sustainability and unique approach to electrification, please visit: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/sustainability.html

_{If you have any questions, please contact:}

_{BMW Group Corporate Communications}

_{Eckhard Wannieck, Head of Corporate, Finance and Sales Communications}
_{E-Mail: Eckhard.Wannieck@bmwgroup.com,
Tel.: +49 (0) 151 601 28042}

_{Sandra Schillmöller, Communications Purchasing, Supplier Network, Sustainability}
_{Email: Sandra.Schillmoeller@bmwgroup.com, Telephone: +49-89-382-12225}

_{Bernhard Ederer, BMW Group Innovation Communications}
_{Email: Bernhard.Ederer@bmwgroup.com , Tel.: +49 (0) 176 601 28556}

_{Martina Hatzel, Communications Production Network BMW Group}
_{E-Mail: Martina.Hatzel@bmwgroup.com,
Tel.: +49 (0) 151 601 11966}

_{For questions regarding Envision AESC please contact:}

_{Lauren Flanagan, Senior Director International Government
Relations & Communications, Envision Group}
_{E-Mail: lauren.flanagan@envision-energy.com,
Tel. +44 7379 340 101}

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group commences in-house production of fuel cells for BMW iX5 Hydrogen in Munich.

Wed, 31 Aug 2022 14:35:00 +0200

Munich. On 31 August, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG Oliver Zipse and Frank Weber, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Development, will come together to inaugurate fuel cell system production at the company’s competence centre for hydrogen in Munich. The reason for this occasion is the small series of BMW iX5 Hydrogen cars that will be entering service around the world from the end of this year for test and demonstration purposes. The combination of fuel cell and high-performance battery is set to enrich the company’s portfolio by adding a unique form of drive system for the premium segment. The BMW Group is playing a visionary and pioneering role in this technology with the aim of achieving a more diversified transition to zero-emission mobility.

“As a versatile energy source, hydrogen has a key role to play on the road to climate neutrality. And it will also gain substantially in importance as far as personal mobility is concerned. We think hydrogen-powered vehicles are ideally placed technologically to fit alongside battery-electric vehicles and complete the electric mobility picture,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, in Munich on Wednesday. “By commencing small-scale production of fuel cells today, we are demonstrating the technical maturity of this type of drive system and underscoring its potential for the future.”

“Our many years of research and development work have enabled us to get the very most out of hydrogen technology,” added Frank Weber, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development. “We have managed to more than double the fuel cell’s continuous output in the second-generation fuel cell in the BMW iX5 Hydrogen, while weight and size have both decreased drastically.”

Thanks to these advances, the BMW Group leads the way in the development of hydrogen technology and considers it to hold great promise for its next generation of vehicles.

Technological expertise and high standards of efficiency in the drive system
The BMW Group will now be manufacturing highly efficient fuel cell systems at its in-house competence centre for hydrogen. This technology is one of the core elements in the BMW iX5 Hydrogen and generates a high continuous output of 125 kW/170 hp. It teams up with an electric motor featuring fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology and a high-performance battery purpose developed for this vehicle to enable its powertrain to deliver 275 kW/374 hp. The development team incorporated the powerful drive system – comprising two hydrogen tanks, the fuel cell and the electric motor – into the existing BMW X5 platform for the small production run. The BMW iX5 Hydrogen already successfully demonstrated its excellent everyday usability, even at very low temperatures, during the final round of winter testing in Sweden at the start of this year.

The impressive testing results of this new small-scale series of cars are rooted in the BMW Group’s extensive experience with the use of hydrogen as a drive technology. Hydrogen-powered combustion engines had already been in use prior to the arrival of the fuel cell system. Efficiency considerations prompted the BMW Group to continue development work in this area from 2015 with the BMW 5 Series GT Hydrogen Cell based on fuel cell technology. Fuel cell technology has since been steadily refined by harnessing the company’s vast know-how in the field of conventional drive technologies and applying the exacting standards of all-round efficiency it expects of all its vehicles.

Production of fuel cell systems in Munich
A chemical reaction takes place in the fuel cell between hydrogen from the tanks and oxygen from the air. Maintaining a steady supply of both elements to the fuel cell’s membrane is of crucial importance for the drive system’s efficiency. In addition to the technological equivalents of features found on combustion engines, such as charge air coolers, air filters, control units and sensors, the BMW Group also developed special hydrogen components for its new fuel cell system. These include the high-speed compressor with turbine and high-voltage coolant pump, for instance.

The BMW Group sources the individual fuel cells required for manufacturing the BMW iX5 Hydrogen from the Toyota Motor Corporation. The two companies have enjoyed a partnership characterised by trust for many years and have been collaborating on fuel cell drive systems since 2013. Fuel cell systems are manufactured in two main steps. The individual fuel cells are first assembled into a fuel cell stack. The next step involves fitting all the other components to produce a complete fuel cell system.

Stacking of the fuel cells is a fully automated process. Once the individual components have been inspected for any damage, the stack is compressed by machine with a force of five tonnes and placed in a housing. The stack housing is manufactured in the light metal foundry at BMW Group Plant Landshut using a sand casting technique. For this, molten aluminium is poured into a mould made from compacted sand mixed with resin in a process specially designed for this small-series vehicle. The pressure plate, which delivers hydrogen and oxygen to the fuel cell stack, is made from cast plastic parts and light-alloy castings, also from the Landshut plant. The pressure plate forms a gas-tight and water-tight seal around the stack housing.

Final assembly of the fuel cell stacks includes a voltage test along with extensive testing of the chemical reaction within the cells. Finally, all the different components are fitted together in the assembly area to produce the complete system. During this system assembly stage, further components are fitted, such as the compressor, the anode and cathode, the high-voltage coolant pump and the wiring harness.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

The electric pioneer on the home stretch: Production of the BMW i3 comes to a close with an anniversary and the exclusive HomeRun Edition.

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 15:00:00 +0200

Leipzig. An era is coming to an end at the BMW Group plant in Leipzig. The serial production of the BMW i3 is now to come to an end, some eight and a half years after it was launched. A source of inspiration, a driver of innovation, a pioneer of locally emission-free driving pleasure: The list of attributes that have accompanied the BMW Group's first large-series production automobile with fully electric drive since its debut in 2013 is long. The BMW i3 (combined power consumption: 16.3 - 15.3 kWh/100 km according to WLTP, 13.1 - 14.0 kWh/100 km according to NEDC, CO₂ emissions: 0 g/ km) started out as an exotic specimen on the still barely tapped market for electric vehicles, developed into a classic with unmistakable charisma already in the course of its production period and goes down in the company's history as a pioneer of sustainable mobility.

For the BMW Group Plant Leipzig, the farewell to the BMW i3 is linked to the start of a new chapter in electric mobility. In a seamless transition, further e-drive components will be manufactured there with immediate effect in addition to producing high-voltage battery modules, which is already being done since May 2021. And already next year, the next generation of the MINI Countryman will be manufactured at the same location - with a fully electric drive, among other things. In this way, the electric mobility expertise of the workforce, which has been built up over the past years, will be used and advanced further. At the same time, the BMW Group Plant Leipzig becomes the first location in the company's global production network where BMW and MINI models are manufactured together.

The final anniversary: 250 , 000 units of electric driving pleasure made in Leipzig.

The BMW i3 ends its production run with an impressive homerun. Just a few days ago, the 250,000 unit of the compact e-vehicle was produced in Leipzig. This makes the BMW i3 the world's most successful electric vehicle in the premium compact segment. And contrary to what might be expected for a model that is being phased out, its popularity did not wane as it matured.

The BMW i3 has been sold in more than 74 countries around the world. In many markets, it achieved a significantly higher market share in the electric vehicle segment than the BMW brand in the area of conventionally powered cars. It also succeeded in inspiring additional target groups in the premium mobility offers from BMW. In the early years, more than 80 per cent of all BMW i3 buyers were new customers for the BMW Group.

The enduring appeal of the BMW i3, which is manufactured exclusively at the Leipzig site for the entire global market, is also due to its especially individualistic character. Its independent vehicle architecture consists of a drive module as an aluminium chassis, which carries the e-drive, the suspension and the high-voltage battery as well as a passenger cell made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) called the life module. This design, developed from the outset for pure e-mobility, made possible a particularly generous amount of space in the interior and a cockpit and centre console design which is both high-quality and very advanced. The same applies to the exterior design, which is still groundbreaking in its ninth year of production, and which is dedicated less to fashion or status than to technological avant-gardism.

Visionary technology standard-bearer with great symbolic power.

These characteristics have not only made the BMW i3 into a trailblazer for the transformation to CO₂-free mobility, but are also proof of how innovative the BMW Group is in a wide range of areas. "The BMW i3 has great symbolic power," says Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. He describes the development of the BMW i3 as a prime example of the "BMW way". This is characterised in particular by the courage to "pioneer topics, to do something different and not just follow the mainstream". This mindset continues to endure, according to Zipse, because "even the BMW iX, which is quite surprising in its capabilities, has its origins in this corporate culture".

The employees involved in manufacturing the BMW i3 at the BMW Group Plant Leipzig know all too well what this culture means in practice. After all, the BMW i3 was a visionary technology standard-bearer from day one, and not just because of its electric drive. With its Life-Drive architecture, it also set new standards in the field of intelligent lightweight construction. In Leipzig, innovative processes unique in the automotive industry have been established for moulding large-format car body parts from the particularly lightweight high-tech material CFRP. Today, the BMW Group has unique expertise in the industrial use of carbon fibre in body construction and aluminium in designing chassis components.

"The BMW i3 is a true pioneer and the epitome of pioneering spirit," says Milan Nedeljković, Member of the Board of Management for Production at BMW AG. "Thanks to the BMW i3, the Leipzig plant became the birthplace of e-mobility at BMW." With the expansion of the production of e-drive components, the Leipzig plant will remain "electric" in the future, says Nedeljković. "It will become the hub for electric mobility and supply our production network worldwide with components."

Innovation driver for e-mobility and multiple award winner.

Thanks to its model-specific technology developments, the BMW i3 has also become an innovation driver for the BMW and MINI brands in numerous other areas. The 135 kW/184 hp electric motor of the BMW i3s (power consumption combined: 16.6 - 16.3 kWh/100 km according to WLTP, 14.6 - 14.0 kWh/100 km according to NEDC, CO₂ emissions: 0 g/km) has been delivering urban driving fun and locally emission-free go-kart feeling in MINI style since 2020. The purely electric MINI Cooper SE (power consumption combined: 17.6 - 15.2 kWh/100 km according to WLTP, 16.9 - 14.9 kWh/100 km according to NEDC, CO₂ emissions: 0 g/km) has since become the most popular model variant of the British brand.

Originally developed for the BMW i3, the fifth generation of BMW eDrive technology is now being produced. It is used in numerous purely electric and plug-in hybrid models from BMW and MINI. The ramp-up of electric mobility will continue in the coming years. By 2030, every second BMW Group vehicle sold worldwide is to be fully electric.

The BMW i3 has received numerous awards during its production period. In Germany, it was awarded the "Green Steering Wheel” already in 2013, followed three years later by the "Golden Steering Wheel", also awarded by "Auto Bild" and "Bild am Sonntag". The design, vehicle concept, interior, sustainability, value retention and connectivity technology of the BMW i3 received further national and international awards and public survey successes. These include class victories in the competitions of the magazines "Auto Zeitung" and "auto, motor und sport", awards as "UK Car of the Year", "Green Car of the Year", "Classic of the Future" and "Swiss Car of the Year" as well as the "World Car Design Award", the "iF gold product design award" and the French "Trophée de l'argus".

Rethinking mobility: The holistic approach of the BMW i brand.

In addition to the all-electric drive, the BMW i3's outstanding eco-balance also stems from the choice of materials, which is fully geared towards sustainability and resource-conserving production. It was the first BMW Group model to receive an ISO certificate issued by independent auditors at the time of its market launch, confirming its optimised environmental performance throughout its entire life cycle.

Partly recycled raw materials are used for its outer skin made of thermoplastics. The plastic used in the interior is made op of 25 percent recycled material. The textiles used for the seat surfaces are made entirely from recycled fibres. The door panels of the BMW i3 are made of kenaf fibres. Eucalyptus wood from certified cultivation in Europe serves as the raw material for parts of the instrument panel.

The holistic concept for sustainability also includes the extensive use of renewable energy in the production of the BMW i3. Four wind turbines on the site of the BMW Group plant in Leipzig supply the electricity needed for its production. At an early stage, they made the Saxon location a pioneer for CO₂-neutral vehicle production, which has been standard in all BMW Group plants around the world since last year.

In addition, the BMW i brand has provided impetus for sustainable driving pleasure and a comprehensive transformation to CO2-neutral mobility in many ways and far beyond the development of electrically powered vehicles. These activities include the urban car-sharing service DriveNow (called SHARE NOW today) which for many users is the ideal opportunity to come into contact with electric mobility for the first time, as well as the services now known as BMW Charging and MINI Charging for convenient charging at home and for easily accessing public charging stations, and the BMW Group's participation in the European fast-charging network Ionity.

The perfect introduction to the world of e-mobility - and a reliable endurance runner.

For many customers, the BMW i3 became a constant companion early on in urban settings, for the daily commute and often far beyond. The frequent drivers among the "early adopters" above all praise the low energy and maintenance costs, but also how reliable the vehicle is and the cycle stability of its high-voltage battery. They report on brake pads that have not had to be replaced even after more than 250,000 kilometres, because a large part of the deceleration power is provided by recuperation when driving the BMW i3, and of the impressive long-term quality of the high-voltage battery, which leads to only a negligible reduction in range even after similarly long running times. The BMW Group took this positive experience as an opportunity to increase the maximum mileage associated with the eight-year warranty period for the battery from 100,000 to 160,000 kilometres at the beginning of 2020.

The BMW i3's high-voltage battery has undergone continuous development since its market launch, doubling its storage capacity while retaining the same installation space. With a cell capacity of 120 ampere hours (Ah) and a gross energy content of 42.2 kilowatt hours (kWh), it now enables ranges of up to 307 kilometres (BMW i3) according to WLTP.

The high-voltage batteries developed and produced by the BMW Group are used in other areas as well. Examples of this are the Streetscooter vans used by the German postal service and the city buses of the Turkish manufacturer Karsan, as well as motorboats with electric drives of the Torqeedo brand, for which they also serve as a source of energy. In addition, BMW i high-voltage batteries are used as stationary energy storage systems for electricity generated from renewable sources such as wind or solar power. The BMW Group plant in Leipzig also has such an energy storage farm. It consists of 700 interconnected BMW i3 high-voltage batteries in which the electricity generated by the four wind turbines on the plant site can be stored.

Locally emission-free, elegant and exclusive: The HomeRun Edition of the BMW i3s.

On its home stretch, the BMW i3 once again showcases the elegant and extravagant side of its character that has already been the subject of several limited special models. The BMW i3s HomeRun Edition, was treated to a Frozen paint finish from BMW Individual for the first time. This premiere is associated with a maximum of exclusivity: Only ten units of the BMW i3s HomeRun Edition have been produced.

An an exclusive for the BMW i3s HomeRun Edition, two new BMW Individual paint finishes have been added to the range: Frozen Dark Grey and Frozen Dark Red II. In addition the HomeRun Edition includes 20-inch light-alloy wheels in a double-spoke design, an electrically operated glass roof, solar control glazing and Adaptive LED headlights. The special models also come with the particularly high-quality Suite interior design, which includes Vernasca Dark Truffle leather upholstery, a leather instrument panel, a leather steering wheel with galvanised trim, a Carum Grey roof lining, Ambient lighting and the welcome light. Other options include heated seats, comfort access, alarm system, Real Time Traffic Information, Concierge Service, Park Distance Control and rear view camera. Also included are the Comfort package and Driving Assistant Plus, the Professional navigation system, telephony with wireless charging, the Harman Kardon hi-fi speaker system and online entertainment with music flat rate.

The production of the ten special models was a final highlight not only for the employees involved in its production at the BMW Group Plant Leipzig. Customers of the special models were able to witness the completion of the vehicles in the assembly hall for themselves.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

CO2-free driving pleasure in all weather conditions: The BMW iX5 Hydrogen in final winter testing close to the Arctic Circle.

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 10:00:00 +0100

Munich/Arjeplog. The BMW iX5 Hydrogen is currently undergoing a demanding programme of testing in extremely challenging weather conditions. It is all part of final winter testing for the car on public roads and at the BMW Group’s testing centre in Arjeplog, northern Sweden. The integrated functional testing and validation of the fuel cell system, hydrogen tanks, peak power battery and central vehicle control unit have confirmed that this additional CO₂-free mobility option can also be relied on to provide sustainable driving pleasure with high levels of comfort and unrestricted performance in extreme sub-zero temperatures.

The tests close to the Arctic Circle see the BMW Group pressing ahead with its development process for the BMW iX5 Hydrogen. The company will produce a small series of the model later in the year and is also committed to helping expand the network of hydrogen fuelling stations. “The winter testing under extreme conditions clearly shows that the BMW iX5 Hydrogen can also deliver full performance in temperatures of -20°C and therefore represents a viable alternative to a vehicle powered by a battery-electric drive system,” says Frank Weber, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development. “For us to be able to offer our customers a fuel cell drive system as an attractive sustainable mobility solution, a sufficiently extensive hydrogen infrastructure also needs to be in place.”

BMW iX5 Hydrogen: hallmark BMW dynamics, range and everyday usability all year round.
In these test runs on the ice and snow around Arjeplog, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen is busy demonstrating how reliably, comfortably and powerfully its hydrogen fuel cell drive system can already meet the mobility requirements of everyday life. After racking up hundreds of sessions on test rigs and in-depth field testing on the road, this adds another chapter to its development story.

The evidence is there for all to see: here, in this extreme cold, the hydrogen fuel cell drive system displays the same everyday usability as a conventional internal combustion engine. Full system power quickly comes on tap. Even in these freezing conditions, the drive system continues to offer its full operating range. And replenishing the hydrogen tanks takes only three to four minutes, even in the depths of winter. “The hydrogen fuel cell drive system combines the best of both drive worlds, regardless of the time of year and outside temperatures: it offers the locally emission-free mobility of an electric vehicle and the unrestricted everyday usability – including short refuelling stops – familiar from models with an internal combustion engine,” says Jürgen Guldner, Vice President of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology and Vehicle Projects at the BMW Group.

The drive system on board the BMW iX5 Hydrogen teams fuel cell technology with an electric motor using fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology. The hydrogen it uses as an energy source is stored in two 700-bar tanks made from carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP). The fuel cell converts the hydrogen into electric power, generating output of 125 kW/170 hp. Plus, the electric motor can add the energy stored in a power battery to the mix. This battery is charged either through energy recovery or from the fuel cell. All of which means that system output of 275 kW/374 hp is available when the driver decides to explore the upper reaches of the car’s dynamic abilities. The only emission released by the fuel cell is water vapour. And its waste heat is harnessed particularly efficiently to warm the car’s interior.

Unique drive system meets all requirements.
The drive, energy storage and control systems all pass the ultimate test of endurance in the wintery surrounds of Lapland. Added to which, specially prepared ice surfaces and snow-covered roads offer the perfect conditions to test the integrated application of all the drive and chassis systems. This also encompasses the steering, springs and dampers, as well as the chassis control systems and the interplay of the friction brakes and deceleration by energy recuperation. Here again, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen is able to make its strengths count, as it also weighs less than a comparable battery-electric model.

The combination of fuel cell and peak power battery gives the BMW iX5 Hydrogen a globally unique drive system. Its technology has the potential to add another pillar to the BMW Group’s drive system portfolio for locally CO₂-free mobility. BMW i – as a brand focused entirely on mobility producing zero local emissions – could in future offer vehicles with a hydrogen fuel cell drive system alongside its battery-electric models. This would allow it, most strikingly, to meet the mobility requirements of customers who do not have their own access to electric charging infrastructure, frequently travel long distances or desire a high degree of flexibility.

BMW Group supports creation of a comprehensive hydrogen infrastructure.
Alongside the production of hydrogen using renewable energy sources, an important element in sustainable personal mobility as offered by fuel cell vehicles is an extensive supply infrastructure. “At the BMW Group we are therefore supporting the endeavours of the European Commission to put in place the AFIR (Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation) covering the parallel roll-out of hydrogen fuelling stations and an electric charging infrastructure,” says Jürgen Guldner. “Indeed, we would like to see an even more ambitious plan and earlier implementation.” Under the “Fit for 55” package of legislation launched as part of its Green Deal, the European Commission is aiming to create a mandatory basic infrastructure. With the implementation of the AFIR draft, 700-bar hydrogen fuelling stations would be set up at intervals of a maximum 150 kilometres (93 miles) along the main transport routes in all member states across Europe. The BMW Group welcomes this initiative and is pushing for the intervals to be reduced to 100 kilometres (62 miles) by 2027.

The BMW Group likewise welcomes and supports activities currently underway to promote innovations in Germany and other European countries aimed at developing a hydrogen economy and driving the production of green hydrogen. These include, most prominently, the large-scale hydrogen projects under the IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) umbrella. This European Union initiative, which is supported in Germany by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Federal Ministry of Transport as well as by the individual states, covers the entire value chain with its range of projects – from hydrogen generation, through transportation to applications such as heating of buildings, energy supply, industry and mobility. The BMW Group already expressed its interest in getting involved in this initiative in 2021. Under the IPCEI framework, the company sees an opportunity to boost the development of fuel cell and storage tank systems significantly and, in so doing, take an important step towards the industrialisation of hydrogen technology for personal mobility.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

The new 2023 BMW iX M60 and iX xDrive40.

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 00:01:00 +0100

Richmond Hill, ON. Green light for the first BMW M automobile designed for purely electric mobility from the outset. The BMW Group presents the third, even more powerful model variant of its new technology flagship: the BMW iX M60. With an estimated peak output of 610 hp and peak torque of 811 lb-ft and an M specific suspension set-up, it adds an outstanding performance experience to the world of emission-free mobility.

The BMW iX M60 combines a vehicle concept consistently geared towards sustainability with the design of a modern Sports Activity Vehicle and thrilling dynamic driving characteristics. In this way it embodies the best of the three worlds of BMW i, the BMW X models and BMW M GmbH. With its technological highlights, which also include the areas of automated driving, operation and connectivity, the new BMW iX M60 represents a new understanding of advanced luxury, high performance and premium character.

BMW Group Canada is also proud to announce the introduction of the iX xDrive40. The xDrive40 will further expand BMW’s offering of electrified products in Canada and provide increased choice and flexibility for Canadian customers.

Sales of both versions are set to begin in June 2022.

iX xDrive40

BMW Group Canada now confirms the new xDrive40 will join the iX’s core version, the xDrive50, and the new M60 in Canadian showrooms. The iX xDrive40 comes equipped with a 71kWh, high-voltage battery and dual electric motors that produce 322 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque. It will go 0-100 km/h in 6.1 seconds, with a top speed of 200 km/h. An estimated EPA range is soon to be announced.

The xDrive40 comes with all-wheel drive as standard and is still capable of the same impressive charging times as other versions of the iX, charging from 10-80% in as little as 31 minutes. The xDrive40 will go on sale in Canada with a base price of $79,990.

iX M60

The start signal for electric mobility in hallmark BMW M brand style.

The BMW iX M60 accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h in only 3.8 seconds. The vehement power delivery of its M specific electric drive continues steadily into high load ranges, so that the increase in speed also remains almost constant up to the electronically limited maximum speed of 250 km/h. The BMW iX M60 has an estimated range of up to 450 kilometres.

The debut of the BMW iX M60 marks a milestone in the history of BMW M GmbH, which began 50 years ago. Together with the BMW i4 M50, it embodies the arrival of the BMW M brand into the segment of electrified performance cars. The extreme power and precise control of the electric all-wheel drive, together with the highly responsive actuator-based wheel slip limitation and a suspension technology that includes, among other things, an M specifically tuned dual-axle air suspension with automatic level control, ensure hallmark BMW M driving experience, agility and precision.

The BMW iX M60 is manufactured together with the other model variants of the all-electric Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) at the BMW Group Plant Dingolfing. The venue for its world premiere will be the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (USA) in January 2022. The Canadian market launch of the iX M60 will begin in June 2022 with a starting price of $121,750.

Balanced vehicle concept, extremely sporty orientation.

The vehicle concept of the BMW iX provides an ideal basis for an all-electric SAV with high-performance characteristics. Both the body structure and the design principle as well as suspension set-up are geared towards combining superior ride comfort with sporty handling characteristics. The aluminum spaceframe concept and the carbon cage with carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) in the roof, side and rear sections are an intelligent mix of materials that combines increased rigidity with optimized weight. The use of CFRP to reduce weight has a long tradition at BMW M GmbH. The particularly lightweight high-tech material already achieved great results in combining engine performance and weight in the BMW M3 CSL, which was introduced in 2003. BMW M GmbH thus pioneered the use of CFRP in large-scale automotive production. In numerous current BMW M GmbH high-performance sports cars, a standard carbon fibre roof and other components made of CFRP are part of the intelligent lightweight construction principle.

The BMW iX M60’s performance, efficiency and range also benefit from its optimized aerodynamic properties, which give it a drag coefficient (C_dvalue) of 0.27. The high-voltage battery is located deep down in the underbody, lowering the vehicle's centre of gravity which ensures agile handling as well as balanced axle load distribution. That is why the performance characteristics of the BMW iX M60 are not only characterized by fascinatingly spontaneous acceleration, but also by outstanding cornering dynamics and handling that can be precisely controlled at all times, even in highly dynamic situations. The perfectly balanced driving characteristics give the BMW iX M60 a confident and light-footed feel at all speeds. It can also be driven at the physical limits giving the driver clear feedback in typical BMW M style.

First BMW M automobile based on the new future modular system.

The BMW iX M60 combines its typical M performance characteristics with the exceptionally advanced technology of the BMW Group's new future modular system in the areas of automated driving, operation, connectivity and digital services. This creates an experience of premium mobility that is unique in the competitive environment. The completely redeveloped interior architecture also contributes to this, creating an exceptionally generous feeling of space.

Like the other model variants, the BMW iX M60 features the most extensive range of standard equipment ever offered by BMW in the field of driver assistance systems as well as numerous innovations. A new generation of sensors, a new software stack and a powerful computing platform also provide considerable potential for consistently advancing assisted driving and parking functions.

The latest generation iDrive display and control system expands the interaction between driver and vehicle allowing natural dialogue. The new BMW iDrive 8 operating system has been designed with a clear focus on the touch function of the new BMW Curved Display and voice communication with the extensively enhanced BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant. The Remote Software Upgrades offer the possibility to install new and improved vehicle functions over-the-air. Navigation with the cloud-based BMW Maps system and Video Augmented Reality on the Control Display ensures fast and precise route planning as well as perfect traffic guidance.

Clear design language, innovative feeling of space, comprehensive features and equipment.

The powerful proportions of a modern SAV, reduced surface design and precise details characterize the clear exterior look and give the BMW iX M60 its distinctive presence. The brake calipers of the sports brake system painted in blue and featuring an M logo, the Titanium Bronze Exterior Trim and M logos in the new High Gloss Black/Titanium Bronze finish on the front side panels and the rear of the vehicle provide clear indications of the high-performance character of the BMW iX M60. 22-inch aerodynamic wheels featuring exclusive Titanium Bronze design are optional.

The spacious, high-quality and innovatively designed interior helps the driver concentrate on driving actively while also providing travel comfort and the pleasure of progressive luxury. Multifunction seats with integrated headrests, the large BMW Curved Display, the hexagonal steering wheel and the anthracite-coloured roof liner enhance driving pleasure. The elimination of the centre tunnel creates additional legroom as well as space for storage and a centre console designed in the style of a high-quality piece of furniture. The optional Suite interior includes natural leather seats, instrument panel, centre console and door trim surfaces, as well as Gold Bronze surfaces and controls. Regardless of the selected display layout and the activated My Mode, an M logo is shown in the left-hand area of the information display.

The exclusive character of the BMW iX M60 is further emphasized by its comprehensive level of equipment. This includes BMW Digital Cockpit Professional and BMW Natural Interaction, which allows functions to be operated using speech and gestures, the Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System, BMW Laser Light, Comfort Access, Active Seat Ventilation for driver and front passenger and the Heat Comfort Package.

Holistic sustainability concept: Controlled raw material extraction, production using 100 percent green electricity, high proportion of natural and recycled materials.

Responsibly using resources throughout the entire value chain and the maximum reduction of the CO₂ footprint across the entire product life cycle express how BMW i understands and defines forward-looking premium mobility. This holistic approach is consistently implemented in vehicle development, throughout the supply chain and in the production of the BMW iX M60. The BMW i brand stands for both ecological and social sustainability.

The supply of cobalt and lithium required for the high-voltage batteries is procured by the BMW Group from controlled sources in Australia and Morocco and delivered to the battery cell manufacturers. The design principle of the electric motors makes it possible to dispense with the use of rare earth metals in the rotors of the drives. In addition, the company purchases aluminum, which is produced using electricity from solar energy plants.

100 per cent green electricity is used for manufacturing the vehicles as well as for manufacturing battery cells. A high proportion of secondary aluminum and recycled plastic also contributes to the resource-efficient production of the BMW iX M60. The interior features FSC-certified wood, leather tanned with olive tree leaf extract and other natural materials. Among other things, recycled fishing nets serve as raw material for floor coverings and floor mats.

Specifications

		iX xDrive40	iX M60
Seats	--	5
Number of Doors	--	4
Drive type	--	AWD
Length	mm	4,953
Width	mm	1,967
Width with mirrors	mm	2,230
Height	mm	1,696
Wheelbase	mm	3,000
Curb weight	kg	2,422	2,617
GVWR	kg	3,010	3,120
Payload	kg	514	455
Weight distribution, front / rear	%	49.1 / 50.9	47.5 / 52.5
Ground clearance	mm	223	223
Turning diameter	m	6.16	6.16
Head room, front / rear	mm	1,066 / 1,004
Shoulder room, front / rear	mm	1,562 / 1,481
Legroom, front / rear	mm	1,022 / 987
Luggage capacity (EPA)	litres	1,005 – 2,205
Engine type	--	5th generation electric synchronous
Combined output		322 hp / 465 lb-ft	532 hp / 749 lb-ft
Max combined output in Sport Boost	hp	N/A	610
Max combined torque in Launch mode	lb-ft	N/A	811
Output, front motor / rear motor	hp	N/A	255 / 483
Transmission		Single-speed automatic
High-voltage battery		Lithium-Ion
Voltage	V	330.3	369
Capacity	Ah	232	303
Energy capacity, gross / net	kWh	76.6 / 71.6	111.5 / 106.3
Charging time, 0-100% AC	hours	21.75 @ 3.7 kW / 16A	33 @ 3.7 kW / 16A
Charging time, 0-100% AC	hours	10.75 @ 7.4 kW / 32A	16 @ 7.4 kW / 32A
Charging time, 0-100% AC	hours	8.25 @ 9.6 kW / 40A	12.25 @ 9.6 kW / 40A
Charging time, 0-100% AC	hours	7.25 @ 11 kW / 48A	10.25 @ 11 kW / 48A
Charging time, 10-80% DC	minutes	73 @ 50 kW / 25A	97 @ 50 kW / 25A
Charging time, 10-80% DC	minutes	41 @ 100 kW / 250 A	49 @ 100 kW / 250 A
Charging time, 10-80% DC	minutes	31 @ 250 kW / 500 A max.	35 @ 250 kW / 500 A max.
Maximum charging, AC	kW	11
Maximum charging, DC	kW	150	195
Steering type		EPS
Steering ratio	:1	16.0
Track, front / rear	mm	1,674 / 1,705	1,677 / 1,706
Cx	--	0.25	0.27
0-100 km/h	seconds	6.1	3.8
Top speed (w/ all-season / summer perf. tires)	km/h	200	210 / 250
EPA range with 21-inch wheels	km	TBD	450
EPA range with 22-inch wheels	km	TBD	TBD

-30-

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Sustainably produced and highly individual: BMW M4 small series takes shape using new paint process

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 10:00:00 +0200

Munich / Dingolfing. BMW Group Plant Dingolfing is piloting a new overspray-free painting process that allows several paint colours to be used and designs to be applied without stencils or masking the vehicle. The highly innovative application method not only increases the degree of individualisation for customers, but also contributes to sustainability by reducing waste and energy consumption. The technology is being used for the first time in 19 BMW M4 Coupés, which will soon roll off the production line at Plant Dingolfing with custom two-tone paintwork and M4 identification on the bonnet and tailgate.

Milan Nedeljković, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Production: “We expect the highest standards of efficiency, sustainability and digitalisation from our production. This smart painting technology meets all the requirements for an innovative production process and also offers unique customer benefits.”

The BMW Group developed the new EcoPaintJet Pro application process for waterborne base coats and 2K clear coat in collaboration with mechanical and plant engineering firm Dürr. In the conventional procedure, paint is atomised by a rotating bell with 35 to 55,000 revolutions per minute and adheres electrostatically to the body. The new method works without electrostatics, relying instead on jet application. The paint is applied using an orifice plate that enables high edge definition with a variable paint thickness of between 1 and appr. 50 millimetres. This requires maximum precision from both the robot and application technology. It also means two different colours of paint can be used, e.g. for a contrasting roof, and stripes and other designs applied – for instance, on the bonnet. The focus of technology and material development was on achieving the maximum range of applications. It will now be possible to paint every exterior component – offering customers virtually limitless options for individualisation.

Until now, custom designs like this can only be realised using manual masking. With the new technology, the material and personnel costs this previously entailed will be eliminated, making it possible to realize these options at a lower cost. This innovative process also prevents so-called overspray, i.e. excess paint particles, which therefore no longer has to be disposed of. A further contribution to sustainable production comes from lower energy consumption: Since paint separation is no longer required, the amount of air needed is also lower. At around 7,000 operating hours, this results in energy savings of more than 6,000 megawatt hours and reduces the carbon footprint by nearly 2,000 tonnes per year. Development of innovative paint technology for further series applications will continue.

With the paintwork for the M4 small series, the BMW Group is testing the possibilities of the new process. These unique vehicles will initially be used in the company's own fleet. Series introduction of the piloted paint process is scheduled to begin in 2022 in the BMW Group production network.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Group accelerates CO2 reduction and focuses consistently on a circular economy with the Neue Klasse

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 10:00:00 +0200

Zipse: “We are committed to a clear course to achieve the 1.5 degree target”
50% reduction in global CO2 use-phase emissions by 2030
Over 40% reduction in CO2 emissions during life cycle
Ten million all-electric vehicles within ten years
Secondary first: Up to 50% use of secondary material planned – initiatives to develop the market are required
Cooperation with BASF and ALBA on plastic recycling
Resource scarcity and social responsibility: BMW Group focussed on circular economy for sustainable materials
RE:BMW – circular economy at the IAA Mobility in Munich

Munich. The BMW Group is increasing the pace of its efforts to combat climate change. Looking ahead to the introduction of the Neue Klasse, the company is further strengthening its self-defined objectives, announced in summer last year, to significantly reduce CO2 emissions, whilst also committing itself to a clear course that supports the 1.5 degree target for the limitation of global warming. The Neue Klasse will also see the BMW Group hugely increase its use of secondary materials with a firm focus on the principles of the circular economy, whilst also promoting better framework conditions for establishing a market for secondary materials.

To achieve a further reduction in CO2 emissions, the focus is on the utilisation phase of vehicles, which account for 70% of the BMW Group’s CO2 footprint. By 2030, the CO2 emissions per vehicle and kilometre driven will be at least halved from 2019 levels. The commitment of all manufacturers when it comes to combatting climate change can best be compared when looking at the entire life cycle of a vehicle, including production and upstream supply chain. Here, the BMW Group is planning a reduction of CO2 emission per vehicle of at least 40%.

“How companies are dealing with CO2 emissions has become a major factor when it comes to judging corporate action. The decisive factor in the fight against global warming is how strongly we can improve the carbon footprint of vehicles over their entire life span. This is why we are setting ourselves transparent and ambitious goals for the substantial reduction of CO2 emissions; these are validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative and will deliver an effective and measurable contribution,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, in Munich on Thursday. “With the Neue Klasse we are significantly sharpening our commitment and also committing ourselves to a clear course for achieving the 1.5 degree target.”

The BMW Group is the first German carmaker to join the Business Ambition for 1.5°C of the Science Based Targets Initiative and is committed to the goal of full climate neutrality over the entire value-added chain by 2050 at the latest. This means that the company is also part of the international Race to Zero Initiative. The company is convinced that this can be achieved using innovation, rather than any overall ban on individual technologies.

The most powerful driver on this path to climate neutrality is electric mobility, with the BMW Group’s Neue Klasse set to provide significant further momentum to the market. During the next ten years or so, the company will be putting around ten million all-electric vehicles on the road. As early as 2030, at least half of global BMW Group sales will be all-electric vehicles, with the MINI brand offering exclusively all-electric vehicles from 2030.

The BMW Group continues to comply with the stringent criteria of the Science Based Targets Initiative, when it comes to measuring the reduction of worldwide CO2 emissions of the company’s vehicles whilst they are being driven on the roads. For example, emissions from the production of fuel or electricity are included in the calculation and consumption is based on the WLTP cycle plus ten percent. With its current product and electrification strategy, the company is on track to meet the EU fleet target for 2030.

Beyond green electricity: Stronger focus on use of resources in future

BMW Group is clear that simply increasing the number of electric vehicles on the road does not automatically lead to climate-friendly mobility. The company understands that it is also crucial to reduce the use of primary material and the related environmentally harmful exploitation of resources and their often CO2-intensive processing – especially when it comes to car manufacturing, one of the most resource-intensive industries.

“2017 was the first time the world’s population consumed more than 100 billion tons of resources within a single year - a trend which we in the automotive industry must also counteract,” Zipse demanded. “This is a strategic issue, concerning not only ecological but also economic sustainability; the current development of commodity prices demonstrates the impact an industry that is dependent on limited resources must expect.”

With the number of battery-powered vehicles growing, there is increasing demand for many commodities such as cobalt, nickel and aluminium, which are required for the vehicles’ high-voltage batteries. However there is great potential for the reuse of materials in the sense of a circular economy and together with specialist partners, the BMW Group has already demonstrated that it’s technological feasible to achieve a recycling efficiency of over 90 percent.

The amount of secondary nickel used for the high-voltage battery in the BMW iX is already as high as 50 percent, with the battery housing containing up to 30 percent secondary aluminium. The BMW Group aims to improve these figures even further for future product generations.

In addition to the increasingly scare availability of primary materials and resulting commodity price increases, there are many sustainability reasons to use more secondary materials and move towards a circular economy.

The supply of secondary materials is considerably less CO2-intensive than is the case with primary materials and can significantly improve the CO2 footprint, especially within the supply chain. In the case of secondary aluminium, the CO2 saving compared with primary material constitutes a factor of approximately 4 to 6, whilst steel and thermoplastics lie between around 2 and 5.

The extraction of resources for primary materials – particularly through mining – has a significant impact on the basic regenerative capacity of ecosystems. This impact can be greatly reduced by increasing the use of secondary materials.

The mining and trading of conflict materials carries the possible risk of associated infringements of environmental and social standards. The BMW Group has established numerous measures to counteract this risk, including membership of the Responsible Minerals Initiative. However, the most efficient strategy for avoiding risks is to minimise the mining of such primary materials.

‘ Secondary First’: Crucial vehicle materials with high secondary content

As part of its holistic approach to sustainability, the BMW Group aims to increase significantly the percentage of secondary materials in its vehicles. On average, current vehicles are manufactured using almost 30 percent recycled and reusable materials. With the ‘ Secondary First’ approach, BMW Group plans to successively raise this figure to 50 percent.

Of course it’s crucial that the quality, safety and reliability of the materials comply with the same high standards as those existing for primary materials – and so it’s essential that the market availability of such high-quality materials increases considerably. In order to achieve this, cross-industry approaches and political initiatives are necessary.

Based on the four principles Re:think, Re:duce, Re:use, Re:cycle, the BMW Group is boosting its activities in the field of circular economy, an area where it’s carrying out pioneering work. For instance, vehicle production now involves the increased separation and recycling of crucial material groups, so these can be reused by the industry within the framework of ‘closed loops’.

Cooperation with BASF and the ALBA Group

Within the supply chain and depending on market availability, secondary materials are increasingly being used in BMW Group vehicles. Moreover, together with its partners, the company is providing important impetus when it comes to developing secondary materials. One example is the company’s pilot project with BASF and the ALBA Group for the increased recycling of plastics used in cars.

The aim of the project is to reduce the use of primary plastics by means of a comprehensive recycling system. To this end, the ALBA Group analyses end-of-life BMW Group vehicles to establish whether a car-to-car reuse of the plastic is possible. In a second step, BASF assesses whether chemical recycling of the pre-sorted waste can be used in order to obtain pyrolysis oil. This can be then used as a basis for new products made of plastic. In the future, a new door trim or other components could be manufactured from a used instrument panel, for example.

Closed loop rather than downcycling: ‘Circular Design’ as the basis of a circular economy

In order to achieve higher recycling rates and whilst also guaranteeing the high quality of secondary materials, the materials must be extracted in their purest form as early as possibly during the recycling process. For example, the onboard wiring systems must be easy to remove, in order to avoid mixing steel with copper from the cable harnesses in the vehicles. If this mixing does take place, the secondary steel loses its essential material properties and therefore no longer meets the high safety requirements of the automotive industry. To support this early and easy extraction of materials, the interior of a car must increasingly be made of monomaterials, so that at the end of the car’s lifecycle, as much as possible can be transferred back into the usable material cycle. Basically, reducing the number of materials can help to improve the quality of recycled materials. Currently, vehicles consist of about 8,000 to 10,000 different materials.

To achieve this, the BMW Group is now focusing on a ‘Circular Design’ concept, which is designed to guarantee the economical dismantling capacity of vehicles. It is essential that disassembly of the vehicle and its individual components is fast and cost-efficient to ensure that prices of secondary materials are competitive. It all starts with the construction of the vehicle, which must be done in such a way that allows materials to be removed at the end of the vehicle’s service life without different types of material being mixed with each other.

RE:BMW at the IAA Mobility – a visionary outlook on circular economy

The BMW Group is putting circular economy at the centre of its presence at the IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, where the company will offer a visionary outlook on the potentials of a circular economy and sustainable mobility. The BMW i Vision Circular embodies the company’s ambitious claim to be the most sustainable manufacturer for individual premium mobility.

This visionary vehicle, designed according to the four principles of the circular economy Re:think, Re:duce, Re:use, Re:cycle, shows how individual, sustainable and luxurious urban mobility could look in 2040. The BMW i Vision Circular is manufactured from 100 percent secondary materials or renewable raw materials, and is 100 percent recyclable.

This car demonstrates that climate protection and individual mobility do not necessarily contradict each other. On the contrary, it shows that using new technologies and innovation, the BMW Group can fulfill the planet’s requirements for greater sustainability without customers having to forgo individual mobility.

In case of queries please refer to:

Corporate Commmunications

Max-Morten Borgmann, Communications Corporate

Telephone: +49 89 382-24118, Max-Morten.Borgmann@bmwgroup.com

Kai Zöbelein, Communications Sustainability

Telephone: +49 89 382-21170, Kai.Zoebelein@bmwgroup.com

Eckhard Wannieck, Head of Communications Corporate, Finance, Sales

Telephone: +49 89 382-24544, Eckhard.Wannieck@bmwgroup.com

Bernd Eckstein, Head of Communications Purchasing, Supplier Network, Sustainability

Telephone: +49 89 382-59490, Bernd.Eckstein@bmw.de

Internet: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

E-mail: presse@bmwgroup.com

The BMW Group

With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. The BMW Group production network comprises 31 production and assembly facilities in 15 countries; the company has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2020, the BMW Group sold over 2.3 million passenger vehicles and more than 169,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the financial year 2020 was € 5.222 billion on revenues amounting to € 98.990 billion. As of 31 December 2020, the BMW Group had a workforce of 120,726 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company set the course for the future at an early stage and consistently makes sustainability and efficient resource management central to its strategic direction, from the supply chain through production to the end of the use phase of all products.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BMWGroupView

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bmw-group/

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Starting signal for the CO2-free mobility of the future: Visitors can experience BMW iX5 Hydrogen in action for the first time at IAA Mobility 2021.

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Munich. The BMW Group is systematically pushing forward with development of hydrogen fuel cell technology as an additional option for sustainable individual mobility. Two years after unveiling the BMW i Hydrogen NEXT concept car, the company will present the BMW iX5 Hydrogen at the IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich. Currently still in series development, the Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) with hydrogen fuel cell drive train will be one of several vehicles visitors can experience as they are driven along the Blue Lane connecting the main exhibition grounds with other exhibition venues in the city centre.

A small series of the BMW iX5 Hydrogen, developed on the basis of the BMW X5, will be used for demonstration and testing purposes from the end of next year. Its hydrogen fuel cell system is further proof of the BMW Group’s leading development expertise in the field of electric drive technologies. “With its high-performance fuel cell and optimised power battery, the BMW iX5 Hydrogen’s drive system is unique in the world,” said Juergen Guldner, head of BMW Group Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology and Vehicle Projects. “With this, we are forging new paths for sustainable driving pleasure.”

With the right conditions, hydrogen fuel cell technology has the potential to become a further pillar in the BMW Group’s drive train portfolio for local CO2-free mobility. The BMW i brand, which is entirely geared towards locally emission-free mobility, could in the future also offer vehicles with hydrogen fuel cell drive trains, in addition to battery-electric models such as the BMW i3, BMW iX3, BMW iX and BMW i4. Provided the hydrogen is produced using renewable energy and the necessary infrastructure is available, this technology can complement the BMW Group’s electrified drive train portfolio – and, in particular, meet the needs of customers who do not have their own access to electric charging infrastructure, frequently drive long distances or desire a high degree of flexibility.

Model-specific design elements 3D-printed for locally emission-free Sports Activity Vehicle.
The BMW iX5 Hydrogen is a modern luxury Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) that combines ground-breaking drive technology with the powerful proportions, convenience and versatility of a BMW X model. Individual exterior and interior design elements highlight the car’s ties to the BMW i brand, as well as its specific drive technology. The inner edging of the BMW kidney grille, the inserts in the 22- inch aerodynamic wheels and the attachments in the outer portion of the rear apron are all in BMW i Blue. The entry sills and cover trim for the instrument panel also sport a “hydrogen fuel cell” badge.

The mesh inserts covering the cooling air openings at the front of the BMW iX5 Hydrogen, as well as the rear apron and its diffuser element, also have their own unique design. The ornamental grilles covering the BMW kidney grille, the lower and two outer air inlets and the body elements for the lower rear end trim all come from the BMW Group’s Additive Manufacturing Campus, which uses 3D printing to produce prototype and standard parts. Additive manufacturing enables fast and highly flexible production of components – some of which have geometric shapes that cannot be realised with conventional production methods.

Systematic sustainability: Aerodynamic wheels and tyres made of natural rubber.
The BMW iX5 Hydrogen’s aerodynamic wheels come with sustainably produced tyres made of natural rubber and rayon. The raw materials for this are extracted in compliance with the standards of the independent Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) organisation. The BMW Group is the first automotive manufacturer worldwide to use Pirelli tyres made exclusively from certified natural rubber and the wood-based material rayon in its production vehicles.

Hallmark BMW driving dynamics, strong long-distance capabilities.
The BMW iX5 Hydrogen combines fuel cell technology with a fifth-generation BMW eDrive. The drive system uses hydrogen as fuel by converting it into electricity in a fuel cell – delivering an electrical output of up to 125 kW/170 hp, with water vapour as the only emission. This drive power also enables it to maintain consistently high speeds over longer distances. The electric motor was developed from the fifth-generation BMW eDrive technology also used in the BMW iX. In coasting overrun and braking phases, it serves as a generator, feeding energy into a power battery. The energy stored in this power battery is also utilised for particularly sporty driving manoeuvres – delivering a system output of 275 kW/374 hp and guaranteeing the brand's signature driving experience.

The hydrogen needed to supply the fuel cell is stored in two 700-bar tanks made of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP), which together hold almost six kilograms of hydrogen. “Filling up the hydrogen tanks only takes three to four minutes – so there are no limits on using the BMW iX5 Hydrogen for long distances, with just a few, short stops in-between,” explains Guldner.

Hydrogen as part of global activities for CO2-free mobility.
According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), hydrogen offers considerable potential as a future energy source in connection with global energy transition activities. Thanks to its storage and transport capabilities, hydrogen can be used for a wide variety of applications. Most industrialised countries are therefore adopting hydrogen strategies and backing them up with roadmaps and concrete projects. In the transport sector, hydrogen can become a further technology option, alongside battery-electric mobility, for shaping sustainable individual mobility in the long term. However, this will depend on competitive production of sufficient quantities of hydrogen from green power, as well as expansion of the corresponding filling infrastructure, which is already being intensively pursued in many countries.

The BMW Group welcomes and supports activities to promote innovation in Germany and Europe that will help build a hydrogen economy and accelerate production of green hydrogen. These specifically include the large-scale hydrogen projects classified as Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI). The projects that comprise this European Union initiative, supported in Germany by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Transport, span the entire value chain – from hydrogen production to transport to applications in industry.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Series production of BMW iX* gets underway at Plant Dingolfing

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 12:30:00 +0200

Highest standards of flexibility: All drive train variants on one line +++ Successful transformation of BMW Group plants towards e-mobility and digitalisation +++ Half of Dingolfing's production volume will be electrified by mid-decade +++ Nedeljković: “setting ourselves ambitious goals for the most sustainable production”

Dingolfing. Standard production of the fully-electric BMW iX* began today in Dingolfing. The plant in Lower Bavaria now produces vehicles with all drive train variants, i.e. combustion-engine vehicles, plug-in hybrids and fully-electric models, on a single line. Milan Nedeljković, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Production: “The launch of the BMW iX* marks another milestone in our expansion of electrification and demonstrates our production network's successful transformation towards electromobility and digitalisation.”

The BMW iX* is being manufactured at the BMW Group’s largest European production plant on an assembly line with the flexibility to build a mix of BMW 5 Series, 7 Series and 8 Series models. To handle this flexibility and variety of drive trains, vehicle assembly in Dingolfing has been expanded and refurbished. The BMW Group has invested a total of more than 400 million euros in producing the BMW iX* at the Dingolfing vehicle plant. Many of the remodelling and structural measures required for the BMW iX* are already benefiting future generations of the BMW 7 Series and 5 Series that will come off the production line in Dingolfing in the coming years. Fully-electric variants have also been announced for both model ranges.

Half of production volume already electrified by mid-decade

With the BMW iX* and other PHEV models at Plant Dingolfing alone, the BMW Group plans to double the percentage of electrified vehicles produced this year compared to 2020. By the middle of the decade, half the vehicles produced in Dingolfing will be electrified. The new model will play an important part in this. “The BMW iX* will already be one of the highest-volume model at the location by next year,” according to Nedeljković. The BMW iX* will be followed in the autumn by the BMW i4*, which will be built in Munich. At the end of next year, all German plants will be producing at least one fully-electric vehicle.

Broad know-how: Vehicle and e-drive production on site

Production of the BMW iX* in Dingolfing benefits from broad know-how and expertise in the technologies located at the site. Close interaction between these different areas enables a high level of in-house activity and short lines of communication, as well as ensuring optimum production technology overall. The fully-electric heart of the BMW iX* – the highly integrated e-drive and fifth-generation battery, as well as the complete electric axle are produced on site, together with the Dingolfing component plants. Production capacity will be systematically expanded and, from 2022, Dingolfing will be able to produce e-drives for more than half a million electrified vehicles.

BMW iX* as trailblazer

The BMW iX* introduces a multitude of innovations to the product and production processes at the plant – especially in the vehicle’s electrical system architecture, software, digital services, connectivity and automated driving functions. As a result, the vehicle plays an important role as a trailblazer and is making Dingolfing “e-car” and “smart-car ready” as the BMW Group’s primary plant for the luxury class.

The BMW iX* is also an important trailblazer in production, bringing future technologies into the production system – such as digital methods for employee training, automation of logistics processes, virtual commissioning and validation of driver assistance systems.

Christoph Schröder, head of BMW Group Plant Dingolfing: “As the primary plant for the luxury class, our location produces the BMW Group’s technology flagship. It is once again proving itself as a pioneer for the mobility of tomorrow and as the industry leader in key future areas of automotive activity, such as electrification, digitalisation and sustainability. In this way, the BMW iX* is continuing the successful transformation of the BMW Group location in Dingolfing that began long ago.”

Special focus on sustainability

The topic of sustainability is firmly anchored throughout the company. A particular focus is on improving our carbon footprint – especially in production of electric vehicles. Independent auditors have confirmed that the greenhouse gas potential of the BMW iX xDrive40* is around 45 percent lower than that of a comparable Sports Activity Vehicle with an internal combustion engine. “We are already the sustainability benchmark for our industry. But we will continue to invest in resource-saving technologies and set ourselves ambitious goals for the most sustainable production,” underlined head of Production Milan Nedeljković. The BMW Group takes a holistic approach to reducing CO₂ emissions and minimising resource consumption that covers the entire value chain, including production as well as the supply chain and use phase.

The BMW Group has already succeeded in lowering resource consumption per vehicle produced by more than half between 2006 and 2020. CO₂ emissions have been reduced even more significantly – by as much as 78 percent. The aim is to reduce CO₂ emissions per vehicle produced by another 80 percent by 2030. “To achieve this, we have made some changes at Plant Dingolfing and implemented a series of new measures,” says plant director Christoph Schröder. For example, the BMW iX* is produced exclusively using regional and directly sourced green power from two hydroelectric power plants located on the Isar and Lech rivers. The entire plant, like all BMW Group locations, will also be net carbon neutral from this year, through the use of corresponding offsets and certificates.

Other aspects of sustainability range from energy-efficient installations to packaging planning, through transport logistics and recycling, up to and including topics such as biodiversity and water management. Plant Dingolfing is therefore able to achieve a recycling rate of more than 90 percent and an even higher recoverability rate of over 99 percent. The plant’s own wells meet over 40 percent of its water needs, thereby helping conserve the region’s drinking water reserves. The BMW Group has already reduced its water consumption by more than 30 percent overall since 2006.

BMW iX* as catalyst for change: Active shift in competence.

The BMW iX* creates a need for additional training beyond the extensive experience and expertise that is already available. It is accelerating the shift in competence already taking place within the production network and helping prepare the workforce for the demands of a new era. In this way, employee development across the entire company is being geared towards digitalisation and e-mobility. As part of the biggest training offensive in the company’s history, 75,000 staff are being trained in future areas of activity.

In Dingolfing alone, more than 4,000 employees have moved to jobs with strong future prospects since 2012. A current example of this is the creation and expansion of the Competence Centre for E-Drive Production at the location, which doubled its staff numbers last year from 600 to 1,200. This number is likely to increase to over 1,900 by the end of the year.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Sustainable tyres for BMW X5 Plug-in Hybrid: BMW Group becomes first automotive manufacturer to use new Pirelli tyres containing FSC-certified natural rubber and rayon

Wed, 19 May 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Munich. The BMW Group is stepping up its activities in the field of sustainability, becoming the first automotive manufacturer worldwide to equip its cars with tyres using certified sustainable natural rubber and rayon, a wood-based material used to strengthen the tyres. The company will source 22-inch tyres in the first instance exclusively from Pirelli and, from August of this year, will use them in the BMW X5 xDrive45e Plug-in-Hybrid (fuel consumption combined: 1.7-1.2 l/100km (WLTP), 2.1-1.6 l/100 km (NEDC); power consumption combined: 27.7-24.3 kWh/100 km (WLTP), 25.2-23.5 kWh/100 km (NEDC); CO2 emissions combined: 39-27 g/km (WLTP), 47-37 g/km (NEDC)). Certification of the rubber plantations and the complex supply chain for natural rubber and rayon takes place in accordance with the strict standards of the independent Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

“As a premium manufacturer, we aspire to lead the way in sustainability and take responsibility,” said Dr Andreas Wendt, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network. “We have been committed to improving cultivation of natural rubber and increasing transparency in the supplier network since 2015. The use of tyres made of certified natural rubber is a pioneering achievement for our industry. In this way, we are helping preserve biodiversity and forests to counteract climate change.”

Natural rubber is the basic material for many products we use in our daily lives, such as boots and mattresses. About six million small farmers worldwide are responsible for over 80% of the world’s natural rubber cultivation. In the so-called rubber belt across the tropical regions, they run farms of between one and two hectares in size under a wide variety of different conditions. Agreeing uniform social and environmental growing conditions with these millions of small individual farms is therefore a major challenge.

By far the largest share of natural rubber grown worldwide goes into tyre production. Natural rubber’s high elasticity and sturdiness currently make it irreplaceable for tyre production.

Small label, big impact

As an independent organisation, FSC has developed an internationally recognised and demanding certification standard in recent years that is used worldwide for environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the forests. The organisation, whose well-known logo is already established in the wood and paper industry, also applies this standard to products made of natural rubber.

The new 22-inch P ZERO ∗ tyre has now become the world's first tyre to receive the coveted FSC label. To earn this certification, Pirelli adapted its US plant in Rome, Georgia, to produce tyres using FSC-certified natural rubber and rayon. From there, the tyres are delivered to BMW Group Plant Spartanburg, around 370 km away, and mounted on the BMW X5 Plug-in Hybrid. The star ∗ in the name indicates that the new tyre meets the BMW Group’s strict performance requirements, including particularly low rolling resistance and noise level.

Giovanni Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli’s Senior Vice President for Sustainability and Future Mobility, said: “Before even reaching the road, sustainable mobility begins with raw materials. With the world’s first FSC-certified tyre, Pirelli once again demonstrates its commitment to pursuing increasingly challenging goals in terms of sustainability, a testament to the constant work on innovative materials and increasingly cutting-edge production processes. We continue to invest in sustainable growth for our planet, aware that this is also essential for the future of our businesses.”

Jeremy Harrison, Chief Markets Officer, FSC International, added: “The new FSC-certified Pirelli Tyre is a significant milestone in the drive to deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits across the natural rubber value chain. This is a major step forward in the journey towards a more sustainable natural rubber value chain, thereby helping to mitigate deforestation and support the fight against climate change.”

Long-standing commitment to greater transparency and sustainability in the natural rubber supplier network

The use of the first tyres containing certified sustainable natural rubber and rayon at the BMW Group is the result of the company’s extensive commitment in this area. In 2019, the BMW Group joined forces with well-known tyre manufacturers, NGOs, rubber producers and consumers to create the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR). Small farmers are also represented in this initiative. The GPSNR is committed to improving social and environmental conditions for cultivation of natural rubber and pushing for more sustainability. It also implements measures to stop deforestation and make supply chains more transparent. The GPSNR currently has almost 100 members, who are responsible for about 50 percent of the global natural rubber market.

Through its activities in the GPSNR and close cooperation with its suppliers, the BMW Group is constantly working to further improve sustainability in the natural rubber supply chain. The BMW Group is stepping up these activities and plans to steadily expand its sourcing of tyres made from sustainably grown natural rubber.

The BMW Group has been working with the FSC organisation for many years (Licence code FSC-N002012). The company decided to use FSC-certified wood in the BMW i3, which was first launched onto the market in 2013. The BMW iX for release later this year will also feature FSC-certified wood. In 2017, the BMW Group and FSC advocated for further development of FSC standards for cultivation of natural rubber in Thailand.

Sustainability an integral part of all purchasing activities

Independently of these measures, the BMW Group has contractually obligated all its direct suppliers to respect human rights, comply with expanded environmental and social standards and to introduce management systems to promote occupational safety and protect the environment since 2014. This also includes protecting forests and biodiversity. These requirements must also be contractually passed on to subcontractors. BMW Group Purchasing does not rely on contractual obligations alone for this but is also implementing a large number of additional measures in a transparent process. A risk filter is used to evaluate potential supplier locations worldwide even before the call for bids. The next step is to require possible suppliers to outline their sustainability activities in a detailed questionnaire. External partners also work with internal appraisers to review selected locations. Throughout the contract period, external partners work with internal appraisers to verify compliance with sustainability requirements through questionnaires and audits. In this way, BMW Group Purchasing is able to monitor thousands of locations every year.

Sustainable mobility with the BMW X5 xDrive45e

The BMW Group has completed full lifecycle CO₂ certification for the BMW X5 xDrive45e – from raw material procurement, through the supply chain, production and use phase, all the way to recycling. If charged during the use phase with the average European electricity mix, this gives it an advantage of around 40 percent over the BMW X5 xDrive40i. If charged with green power, the advantage is around 70 percent. The electric range amounts to 77-88 kilometres (WLTP).

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Right of way for green electricity by intelligent charging with the BMW i3.

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 08:00:00 +0100

Munich. The BMW Group is working in close collaboration with power grid operator TenneT to devise groundbreaking solutions that will turn electric mobility into one of the mainstays of the energy revolution. An intelligent charge control system developed for BMW Charging can help to adapt electric vehicle charging in a way that keeps the power grid stable and makes optimum use of energy from renewable sources. Following successful deployment in the USA, the technology’s practicability has now also been demonstrated in Germany as part of a subsequent pilot project. Providing the platform for this new solution is the connectivity technology already included as standard in the all-electric BMW i3.

The BMW Group is aiming to offer its customers ways of charging their electrified vehicles as easily and cheaply as possible while minimising the associated emissions. The digital integration of electric vehicles into the power grid will make it possible to adjust vehicle charging with customers’ mobility requirements, grid stability and the availability of renewable energy all factored in. Intelligent charge control can therefore play a role in preventing power grid congestion and give priority to green electricity at the same time. As and when the customer’s mobility schedule allows, charging of suitably equipped electric vehicles can be briefly decreased – in the event of an electricity supply shortfall, for example – in order to reduce the load on the grid. Charging of the high-voltage battery will resume as soon as the supply bottleneck has been alleviated, ideally at a time when sufficient reserves of wind or solar energy have accumulated.

Intelligent charge control responds to signals from the grid operator.

The system of charge control developed for BMW Charging acts as a link between car and power grid. It registers the grid requirements signalled by the operator, making it possible to control the charging of plugged-in electric vehicles for optimum results – whether the vehicle is hooked up to the electricity grid at a public charging station, via a BMW Wallbox or using a domestic power socket. The signals are processed by the digital charge control technology and the vehicle’s connected electronics.

In the latest pilot project, the team succeeded in recording and processing signals from grid operator and project partner TenneT that indicated an imminent grid overload. This allowed charging to be temporarily decreased in selected BMW i3 cars in response. Electricity from renewable sources could then be integrated into the grid to optimum effect and there was no need to use backup power plants running on fossil fuels. The results from the pilot project represent further progress towards digital integration of electric vehicles into the power grid and pave the way for implementing this solution on a larger scale.

Electric mobility: turning a problem for the energy revolution into a solution.

As the number of electric vehicles on our roads continues to grow, so does the amount of electric power needed to fuel individual mobility. Considered in terms of total requirements, however, electric mobility is a relatively small factor. Independent studies predict that in Germany, for example, a fleet of two million electric vehicles would only increase electricity demand by around one per cent.

At the same time, intelligent charge control means electric mobility can help grid operators handle new challenges arising from the increasing input of renewable energy. These centre on precisely balancing supply and demand – i.e. power generation and consumption – both geographically and in terms of quantity. Wind electricity generated in the north of Germany, for instance, must be able to reach consumers in the south. This is made more difficult when the grid is already working at maximum capacity. Without intelligent charging, this can lead to congestion that has to be cleared rapidly. So, if a particular region is at risk of an electricity shortage, the usual response is to increase output from coal- or gas-fired power plants that can be brought on line at short notice.

Intelligent charging can help to keep the price of electricity stable.

Known as “redispatching”, these interventions in the power generation network generate costs in the region of €500 millions a year in Germany alone – and these must be met by the power grid operators. Intelligently controlled charging holds potential to cut these costs, as briefly decreasing vehicle charging eliminates the grid congestion, allowing wind power to flow smoothly and dispensing with the need to use fossil energy in power plants.

As integrating electric vehicles into the power grid and implementing intelligent charge control reduces redispatching costs, it can also help to limit expansion of the cross-regional network of power lines – and thereby restrict electricity price rises.

Contributions made to stabilisation of the power grid also provide the basis for energy-linked business models, as owners of electrified vehicles can actually earn money through intelligently controlled charging. This represents a milestone on the road to realising the BMW Group’s vision of offering electric vehicle drivers electricity for charging their cars that is both free and generated with zero emissions.

An all-encompassing electric mobility offering.

The BMW Group has been running a precursor to the pilot project in Germany for several years already. The ongoing BMW i Charge Forward initiative in California has seen intelligent charging control – according to the needs of both customers and the power grid – undergoing practical trials under everyday conditions with a fleet of over 300 electric vehicles. The local grid operator has backed the scheme with financial rewards. And as the drivers of the electric vehicles participating in the scheme ultimately pocket the bonuses, this is a win-win situation for all involved.

Press Contact: Marc Belcourt
Tel: +1-905-428-5078
E-mail: marc.belcourt@bmwgroup.ca

Successful Conclusion of KINO DER KUNST in Munich. BMW Awards the Prize for Artists under the Age of 35 Years to Till Nowak.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:15:00 +0200

Munich. On Sunday, after four days and over 5,000 visitors, the KINO DER KUNST in Munich, a festival exclusively for the films of visual artists, culminated with the presentation of the two main awards.The first prize went to Almagul Menlibayeva, an artist from Kazakhstan and the other one to Till Nowak from Germany. Both awards were for €10,000 each and were donated by the Goetz Collection and BMW. Omer Fast, an Israeli artist now living in Berlin received the Audience Award worth €5,000. Egyptian artist Wael Shawky won the Award for the Filmic OEuvre. He was regarded as one of the most important newcomers at last year's dOCUMENTA (13).

The international jury with actress Amira Casar, museum director Defne Ayas and the artists Cindy Sherman and Isaac Julien praised Transoxiana Dreams by Almagul Menlibayeva as a “personal and intimate vision of everyday life in an environmentally damaged landscape" as well as a “nomadic shamanesque revival through punk and surreal staged tableaux vivants.”

For the second main award, donated by BMW, which is presented to artists under 35, the jury wrote: "In The Centrifuge Brain Project by Till Nowak, the visions of mad scientist’s vision meets a child’s vision of an amusement park ride in a uniquely convincing and smooth use of computer generatedimages. The work is a both witty and uncanny scientific mockumentary of television reportages.”

Special mention was given by the jury of the International Competition to Andro Wekua for his short film Never Sleep with a Strawberry in Your Mouth. Katarina Stanković from Serbia received the KINO DER KUNST Project Award for her Circle with Four Corners.

Festival director Heinz Peter Schwerfel was delighted at the interest that the festival aroused in Munich. Besides the around 90 films from 31 countries which appeared on the large screen, there were also numerous multichannel installations on view at various museums and galleries.

Overview of the Awards and Prizewinners

Main Award KINO DER KUNST, donated by Ingvild Goetz (Goetz Collection), €10,000; Prizewinner: "Transoxiana Dreams“ (KAZ 2011, 23’) by Almagul Menlibayeva

Main Award KINO DER KUNST, donated by BMW, €10,000 Euro; Prizewinner: “The Centrifuge Brain Project” (DEU 2011, 6’35’’) by Till Nowak

Award for the Filmic OEuvre, donated by Louis Vuitton, €10,000; Prizewinner: Wael Shawky (EGY)
Audience Award, donated by the Biehler von Dorrer Stiftung, €5,000; Prizewinner: “5000 Feet is the Best” (USA 2011, 31’) by Omer Fast

KINO DER KUNST Project Award, donated by ARRI Film & TV Services GmbH,In kind with a value of €10,000; Prizewinner: “Circle with Four Corners” (SRB, 30’) by Katarina Stanković

About BMW’s Cultural Commitment

For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group's Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Metha, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko have co-operated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design important corporate buildings and plants. In 2011, the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a global initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Guggenheim Museum and the BMW Group celebrated its world premiere in New York. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted – as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview

The BMW Group
The BMW Group is the leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 28 production and assembly facilities in 13 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2012, the BMW Group sold about 1.85 million cars and more than 117,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2012 was euro 7.82 billion on revenues amounting to euro 76.85 billion. At 31 December 2012, the BMW Group had a workforce of 105,876 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy. As a result of its efforts, the BMW Group has been ranked industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the last eight years.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BMWGroupview

Google+: http://googleplus.bmwgroup.com

For questions please contact:

Dr. Thomas Girst

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Head of Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49 89-382-24753, Fax: +49 89-382-10881

Antonia Ruder

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49-(0)89-382-51468, Fax: +49-(0)89-382-10881

Internet: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

E-mail: presse@bmw.de

Ursula Teich

KINO DER KUNST

Telephone: +49-(0)221-5743112

Internet: www.kinoderkunst.de

E-mail: teich@kinoderkunst.de

Press Contact: Frank Strebe
Tel: +1-905-428-5005
E-mail: frank.strebe@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Guggenheim Lab Launches Online Interactive Exploring Privacy and Public Space. Launch expands on findings of Mumbai Lab’s privacy studies, released today.

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 09:30:00 +0200

Mumbai/Munich.The BMW Guggenheim Lab is expanding its exploration of privacy and public space in cities with today’s launch of a new online interactive. The feature, called “Public/Private,” is an extension of two research projects conducted over the past seven months as part of the BMW Guggenheim Lab Mumbai. Public/Private and selected results from the earlier projects, which included a privacy study and an initiative mapping perceptions of public spaces, are now available on the Lab’s website.

Public/Private invites users to share their expectations of privacy as experienced in a variety of spaces—ranging from home to work to recreational. Each participant’s response will produce a unique visual graph that can be compared to feedback generated by other participants. As people from around the world add their insights, a more complex picture of privacy in urban settings will emerge. Public/Private was designed and developed by the New York-based design studio Collective Assembly.

The research projects explore the meaning and character of privacy for residents of Mumbai, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with a metropolitan area of approximately 20 million people.

The first project, “Your Place, My Place, or Our Public Space?: Privacy and Spaces in Mumbai,” incorporates 1,300 in-person surveys conducted prior to and during the run of the Mumbai Lab. Responses to the survey, which explored the concept of privacy and its relationship to personal and public space, were solicited from a cross-section of Mumbaikars. The project was conducted by the Lab in a collaboration between Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action and Research (PUKAR), a Mumbai-based independent research collective, and Mumbai Lab Team member Aisha Dasgupta.

A second, complementary project, “Mapping Privacy in Public Spaces,” resulted in participants creating 250 “memory maps”—hand-drawn visual responses to images of public spaces in Mumbai. This participatory project was initiated by the Mumbai Lab in collaboration with the Design Cell at Kamla Raheja Vidyanidji Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies (KRVIA).

“Your Place, My Place, or Our Public Space,” one of the first projects of its kind to address the topic of privacy and public space in Asia, found that the definition of privacy and the need for it are constantly shifting and that, faced with dense urban conditions, Mumbaikars find novel ways of using available space to meet privacy needs. Findings reveal that:

While the majority of respondents considered “home” as their most private space, when asked from whom they seek privacy, 26% of Mumbaikars needed respite from their neighbors and 24% from their family.
Although community spaces are typically considered “public” settings, they offer a level of intimacy and separation from family and neighbors that many homes in Mumbai lack. These spaces include beaches and parks as well as areas that may not typically be considered public such as cinema halls, malls, restaurants, and membership clubs.
87% of women surveyed reported that there are community or public spaces that are inacessible to them; these women cited safety and sexual harassment as their top concerns.

“Mapping Privacy in Public Spaces” corroborated findings from the “Your Place, My Place, or Our Public Space” study, demonstrating that:

Most participants often found privacy in public spaces that contained an architectural element such as street furniture or playground equipment.
Participants attained privacy in large open spaces such as seafront promenades and maidans (open spaces often used for sport or large gatherings).
A sense of belongingness, security, ownership, seclusion, personalization of the space, accessibility, and freedom of expression were essential to fostering a sense of privacy in public space.

“During the last two years, the BMW Guggenheim Lab’s programs have encouraged people to take an active role in shaping their cities, but just as important may be the ability of city dwellers to find a sense of privacy within their urban environment,” said David van der Leer, curator of the Mumbai Lab. “The privacy studies initiated by the Mumbai Lab sparked a reimagining of how we think about and use precious public space in cities, and now, with the launch of our new interactive feature, we can open up the conversation to many other cities around the world.”

The BMW Guggenheim Lab Mumbai, open from December 9, 2012 to January 20, 2013, was located at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, with an additional five satellite Labs throughout the city and its suburbs. The Lab presented 165 programs over 29 days and included design and research projects, surveys, tours, talks, workshops, and film screenings. The Lab’s programs were conceived by Mumbai Lab Team members Aisha Dasgupta, Neville Mars, Trupti Amritwar Vaitla, and Héctor Zamora, together with Guggenheim curator David van der Leer and curatorial assistant Stephanie Kwai. Locally based program consultants Swati Abhijit, Sourav Biswas, Vikram Doctor, Naresh Fernandes, Ammar Mahimwalla, Alisha Sadikot, Surabhi Sharma, and Pooja Warier, along with Paris-based program consultant Aaron Pereira, developed the programs based on the concepts identified by the Lab Team. Mumbai was the third stop for the mobile project, following presentations in New York and Berlin.

Futher research and findings from the Mumbai Lab continue to be collected and analyzed and will be released in the coming months.

As part of the Lab’s ongoing global dialogue about urban life, an exhibition to be presented at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York this fall will consider the major themes and ideas that emerged in Mumbai, Berlin, and New York.

About the BMW Guggenheim Lab

The BMW Guggenheim Lab is a co-initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the BMW Group. The BMW Guggenheim Lab is curated by Maria Nicanor of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The project’s blog, Lab | Log, features interviews with BMW Guggenheim Lab contributors and includes coverage of the Lab’s activities. The public is invited to join the BMW Guggenheim Lab’s dedicated social communities on Twitter (@BMWGuggLab and #BGLab), Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Foursquare, and to subscribe to the Lab's e-newsletter for the latest project updates.

About BMW’s Cultural Commitment

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview

The BMW Group

The BMW Group is the leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 28 production and assembly facilities in 13 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BMWGroupview

Google+: http://googleplus.bmwgroup.com

For questions please contact:

Dr. Thomas Girst

BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs

Head of Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49 89-382-24753, Fax: +49 89-382-10881

Leonie Laskowski

BMW Group Corporate and Governmental Affairs

Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49 89-382-45382, Fax: +49 89-382-10881

Media Website: https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en

E-mail: presse@bmw.de

Press Contact: Frank Strebe
Tel: +1-905-428-5005
E-mail: frank.strebe@bmwgroup.ca

BMW Guggenheim Lab Mumbai to Open December 9, 2012 at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, with “Pop-Up” Sites Throughout the City. Free Program Invites Mumbaikars to Explore Balance Between Personal and Public Space. Mumbai Lab Team Announced.

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:00:00 +0200

Mumbai. The BMW Guggenheim Lab will make the next stop on its global journey in Mumbai from December 9, 2012 to January 20, 2013. Presented in collaboration with the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, the Mumbai Lab will offer free programming at multiple sites throughout the city. Design projects, participatory studies, tours, talks, workshops, film screenings and cultural activities will address challenges and opportunities related to public space and the choices Mumbaikars make to balance individual and community needs in this bustling metropolitan area of more than 20 million people. Mumbai is the third stop of the mobile project, following New York and Berlin.

Part urban think tank, part community center and public gathering space, the BMW Guggenheim Lab is a pioneering global initiative aimed at raising awareness of important urban challenges and inspiring an ongoing conversation in cities around the world. In addition to participating in free programs at the Lab sites, the public is invited to visit the project website and join the dedicated online social communities or subscribe to the Lab’s e-newsletter for the latest project updates.

The central site for the Mumbai Lab will be at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, located in the heart of the Byculla district next to the city's botanical gardens and zoo. Additionally, nearly half of the public programs will be held at a network of satellite locations throughout the city, making the Lab’s programming available to a wide range of audiences and communities. Details about the satellite locations will be announced in the coming weeks.

“The BMW Guggenheim Lab Mumbai will take its programs out to to the people in a new way. As we expand and evolve the conversation about important issues of urban life, what better city to continue this thrilling process of exploration and discovery than Mumbai, the commercial and entertainment capital of India and a leading scientific center,” said Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation. “We are honored to be working with one of India’s most important and historic national treasures, the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, and we are proud to continue our journey in collaboration with BMW.”

“Mumbai once again demonstrates the BMW Guggenheim Lab’s ability to continuously adapt and re-imagine itself during its continuing journey through the world’s metropolises,” said Frank-Peter Arndt, member of the Board of Management, BMW AG. “To be able to engage with the city’s dazzling variety and unique inventiveness, the Guggenheim’s curators and the Lab Team, together with the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, have created a highly participatory, multidisciplinary program that is specific to Mumbai but also relevant to audiences around the globe.”

“We are delighted to collaborate with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on this critically important initiative,” said Tasneem Mehta, Managing Trustee and Honorary Director, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum. “Just as we honor and preserve the rich cultural history and heritage of Mumbai at our Museum, we must also look to our future and find ways to sustain our magnificent city and address the common challenges faced by urban dwellers around the globe.”

Mumbai Lab Team and Advisory Committee

The Mumbai Lab Team, which has created the program for the Lab together with Guggenheim curator David van der Leer and curatorial assistant Stephanie Kwai, includes four emerging talents in their fields: Aisha Dasgupta, a British demographer based in Malawi; China-based Dutch architect Neville Mars; Mumbai architect and urban transport designer Trupti Amritwar Vaitla; and Héctor Zamora, a Mexican artist based in Brazil.

The Lab Team members are nominated by the BMW Guggenheim Lab Advisory Committee, an international group of experts from various disciplines. Delhi-based transportation planner and safety expert Geetam Tiwari recently was named to the Advisory Committee.

Programming Overview

The BMW Guggenheim Lab Mumbai’s multi-site program has been developed specifically for Mumbaikars. Along with national and international experts, academics, and leaders, the Lab will celebrate Mumbai’s local thinkers and innovators by including students, neighbors, grassroots activists, commentators, local organizations, and community groups.

“With more people than ever living in cities, we need a better understanding of urban life with all its opportunities and challenges,” said BMW Guggenheim Lab curator David van der Leer. “We believe that the ideas, investigations and experiments of the Lab will help us rethink how the effective use or reuse of personal and public space can positively impact our cities.”

The Mumbai Lab will present a distinctive range of offerings. Participatory programs will bring the public together with city officials and urban planners to address issues related to transportation, housing, water, and governance; city tours will explore the psychological effects of public space; and design projects are planned to include an open competition to develop solutions for a heavily congested traffic junction in Mumbai and an exploration of ways to refit obsolete infrastructure with new public space and pedestrian functions. The robust roster will include a kaleidoscope of perspectives from entertainers, artists, filmmakers, storytellers, chefs, and others, who will share their experiences of Mumbai’s unique urban landscape and celebrate its citizens’ diversity and adaptability. In addition, the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum will lead hands-on design and creative activities for families to learn about Mumbai’s historic, cultural, and contemporary urban landscape

The days and hours of operation of the Mumbai Lab as well as a full programming schedule will be announced in the coming months.

Lab Design
As in New York and Berlin, the physical structure of the BMW Guggenheim Lab Mumbai will be in character with its urban environment. For Mumbai, Tokyo architects Atelier Bow-Wow have designed a new structure uniquely suited to the city's densely populated environment, modeled after the Indian mandapa, a raised outdoor pavilion traditionally used for public celebrations and events. Constructed primarily of bamboo, a building material often used in South Asia, the Lab’s main L-shaped structure will be situated under a canopy of shade trees in the gardens of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum. A modified version of the Lab, which will consist of one wing of the main structure, will travel to satellite sites throughout the city.

About the BMW Guggenheim Lab

The BMW Guggenheim Lab is a joint initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the BMW Group. The BMW Guggenheim Lab is curated by David van der Leer and Maria Nicanor of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The graphic identity of the Lab has been developed by Seoul-based graphic designers Sulki & Min. Activities at the Lab are reported on the project’s blog,

Lab | Log, which also features interviews with BMW Guggenheim Lab contributors. The public is invited to join the BMW Guggenheim Lab’s dedicated social communities on Twitter (@BMWGuggLab and #BGLab), Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Foursquare).

The BMW Guggenheim Lab has been recognized with a number of prestigious honors, including a Webby Awards nomination for Excellence on the Internet, an International Design Communication Award for Best Logo, and an American Institute of Architects, New York State chapter Citation for Design Excellence. The project has also been recognized by the United Nations as an exemplary project that fosters community participation and discussion about key urban topics. In addition, the Lab was featured as a resource on TED’s website, The City 2.0, recognizing it as a globally ambitious project that seeks to spark dialogue about urban life. Urbanology, a city-planning game on the Lab’s website, was honored with a MUSE Award, presented by the American Association of Museums.

Future plans for the ongoing initiative will be announced at a later date.

About the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation

Founded in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of art, primarily of the modern and contemporary periods, through exhibitions, education programs, research initiatives, and publications. The global network that began in the 1970s when the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, was joined by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, has expanded to include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (opened 1997), the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin (1997-2013), and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi currently under development. Looking to the future, the Guggenheim Foundation continues to forge international collaborations that take contemporary art, architecture, and design beyond the walls of the museum. More information about the foundation can be found at guggenheim.org.

About Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum

The Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum was established in 1872 as the Victoria & Albert Museum, Bombay. In 1975 the Museum was renamed the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum in honor of the man whose vision and dedication ensured its establishment. Now an institution of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, it is Mumbai’s oldest museum and the third oldest in the country. The Museum’s collection showcases the Decorative Arts of India and also has an extraordinary collection of clay models and dioramas that document the life of the people of Mumbai and the history of the city in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After four years of intensive restoration by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and supported by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation, the Museum reopened to the public in January 2008.

About BMW’s Cultural Commitment

For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in more than 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. The BMW Group has also been ranked industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the last eight years. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group's Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Metha, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko have cooperated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design important corporate buildings and plants. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted – as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.

Further information: bmwgroup.com/culture and bmwgroup.com/culture/overview.

The BMW Group

The BMW Group is one of the most successful manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI, Husqvarna Motorcycles and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 29 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2011, the BMW Group sold about 1.67 million cars and more than 113,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2011 was euro 7.38 billion on revenues amounting to euro 68.82 billion. At 31 December 2011, the BMW Group had a workforce of approximately 100,000 employees.