BMW Orders Battery Cells Worth More Than 10 Billion Euros

The German giant anticipates the sales of electrified models to grow between 2019 and 2021

The German multinational automobile manufacturer, BMW has stated on Thursday that it has placed an order of battery cells worth more than 10 billion euros ($11.07 billion) from Chinese battery cell manufacturer Samsung SDI and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. According to the carmaker, it has expanded its order to 7.3 billion euros with CATL from an initial booking that was worth four billion euros and was declared in mid-2018.

Also, the brand has stated that the agreement would last from 2020 to 2031. The contract of battery supply, which is signed with Samsung SDI, is worth 2.9 billion euros and would last from 2021 to 2031. BMW would receive the cobalt from mines in Morocco and Australia, which is required for cell production and will supply it to Samsung SDI and CATL. In addition to that, the brand is planning to gain lithium from mines located in Australia.

It also plans to offer 25 electrified models by the year 2023, with the majority of them to be completely electric. It anticipates the sales of electrified models to grow between 2019 and 2021. The carmaker has renewed its complete petrol vehicle lineup in India to comply with the BS-VI emission regulations and is now working on the diesel lineup to comply with the stricter emission norms, which is set to arrive in India by April, next year.

BMW India stated in a report, “The complete petrol portfolio is already BS-VI compliant while the diesel portfolio will be converted ahead of stipulated timelines. BMW Group Plant Chennai has started local production of BS-VI diesel variants of the BMW 5 and the BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo.”