[Updated March 6] BMW has started construction of a 1.6 billion baht ($45.6m) battery manufacturing facility to supply Gen-5 high-voltage batteries for a battery electric vehicle (BEV) the carmaker will start making at its Rayong assembly plant in Thailand. Production is set to begin in the second half of 2025.
The 4,000 sq.m battery facility will integrate Gen5 battery cells sourced from several suppliers, including Samsung, CATL and EVE, into high-voltage batteries.
”The high voltage battery assembly will be an exclusive BMW operation compared to our Gen 5 battery production in our plants in Dingolfing, Leipzig, and Regensburg,” said a spokesperson for BMW. ”The assembly line will convert imported battery cells into modules that will then be integrated into high-voltage batteries.”
BMW Group has been making high-voltage batteries in Thailand for locally made plug-in hybrids since 2019. It set up a battery assembly plant in partnership with Dräxlmaier in 2019 in Chonburi to make batteries for its 5 Series plug in hybrid vehicles made at the Rayong plant. The battery cells to that plant are supplied by Samsung.
The Rayong assembly plant manufactures BMW, Mini and BMW Motorrad passenger cars, as well as motorcycles, for the domestic market and for export to various markets in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). The production programme in Thailand currently includes the BMW 2, 3, 5, 7 Series, as well as BMW X1, X3, X5, X6 and X7. Last year the plant made more than 12,000 cars and almost 11,000 motorcycles.
“Local production of high-voltage batteries in Rayong is the next logical step in the continued electrification of our production network. Once again, the principle of ‘local for local’ applies, supporting economic development, employment opportunities and knowledge transfer in Thailand and the Asean region,” said Milan Nedeljković, BMW’s head of production at the ground-breaking ceremony.
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