BMW is expanding production capacity and increasing staff at the Competence Centre for E-Drive Production in Dingolfing faster than originally planned. Due to growing demand for electrified models, the plant expects the number of modules needed for production of high-voltage batteries to double from the previous year. The number of electric motors required will also increase significantly.
“We are embarking on a massive expansion of our Competence Centre for E-Drive Production in Dingolfing: from 8,000 square metres currently to 80,000 in the future. This is where we produce powertrain components for our fully and partially electric models. By the end of the year, we will increase our staff in this area from 600 to more than 1,400,” said Michael Nikolaides, head of production engines and E-drives at BMW Group.
Up to 2,000 employees will work on electric motors, battery modules and high-voltage batteries in Dingolfing in the medium term. The Lower Bavaria plant doesn’t just supply the vehicle plant in Dingolfing, but also delivers batteries and electric motors to most of the brand’s plants worldwide.
Christoph Schröder, head of the plant, adds: “Thanks to close cooperation between vehicle and component development, our Dingolfing site is now leading the transformation of the automotive industry. More than one in five BMW 5 Series Sedans built at our Dingolfing vehicle plant today is already a plug-in hybrid. We deliver premium e-mobility from Lower Bavaria to customers all over the world.”
For the upcoming ramp-up and planned volume growth, qualified staff are currently being recruited on a large scale – both internally at the BMW Group’s plant locations and outside the company. Munich says that 800 new jobs in electric component production are needed.
Currently, Dingolfing makes eDrive components for the BMW 330e, BMW X5 xDrive45e and BMW X3 xDrive30e plug-in hybrids, and the pure electric MINI Cooper SE. The number of electrified models in the BMW Group range is currently 12, but the BMW X1 plug-in hybrid and the fully-electric BMW iX3 will join this year. The group plans to expand the electrified tally to 25 models by 2023, more than half of them full EVs.
The premium carmaker predicts that a quarter of its vehicles sold in Europe are likely to be electrified by 2021, and that this percentage will reach a third in 2025 and half in 2030.
The Dingolfing plant, which has been rolling off series-produced batteries for the BMW i3 since 2013, is being prepared for the production of fifth-generation electric motors and batteries. Production is slated to start later this year and “will set new standards for scalability and performance capabilities,” BMW says.
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Michael Nikolaides, head of Production Engines and E-Drives at the BMW Group: “We are embarking on a massive expansion of our Competence Centre for E-Drive Production in Dingolfing: from 8,000 square metres currently to 80,000 in the future. This is where we produce powertrain components for our fully and partially electric models. By the end of the year, we will increase our staff in this area from 600 to more than 1,400.” Up to 2,000 employees will work on electric motors, battery modules and high-voltage batteries in Dingolfing in the medium term.