The updated BMW iX in xDrive 60 guise offers the most range in the brand’s stable with 426 miles
Munich firm claims advances in current battery technology will yield more range benefits to customers in coming years
BMW is not focussing on solid-state battery technology for the coming years, and instead insists there is “a long way to go” with today’s lithium iron (LI) and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) packs – which it will instead continue to develop.
Solid-state batteries are widely said to be crucial to EV longevity because they offer greater capacity and more range than similar-sized LI/NMC packs in use today. That’s because of their simplified make-up that is lighter, less susceptible to temperature variations and can be charged faster.
But while firms such as rival Mercedes-Benz claim they are close to putting the technology into production, Martin Schuster, BMW’s vice president of next-generation battery tech Martin Schuster, estimates that the BMW Group is eight years away from needing a solid state battery option in its lineup.
He said: “The most important thing is the lithium iron battery: it’s not finished. You [still] see improvements. There is no one and only battery. It will not come. But the lithium ion at the moment [can] improve in a steady way, to reduce the cost, because that will be the main, most important goal.”
He told Autocar: “We can do [solid state] now, but the cost in the packaging makes no sense to do. There is still a long way to go with lithium iron.”
Purchasing and supply board member Joachim Post added that BMW Group’s new “Gen6” NMC batteries – that can add 186 miles in as little as 10 minutes – offer more than enough for what the market currently wants. “Would a customer be willing to pay a much higher price for solid-state for, maybe, a little bit faster charging?”, he asked. “Cost is one of the most important points [for EV buyers].”
That cost comes from the production of the packs, especially the cells, said Post. “The problem [with solid-state] is to make millions of battery cells for a low price with a high efficiency, best quality, and easy to integrate in the package,” he said. “But what we so far see there is not a fast breakthrough coming, and that’s why we are quite confident that our Gen6 [battery] is lasting for a long time.”
Asked if this meant BMW would fall behind, given Mercedes-Benz has just announced it has begun testing of its own solid-state battery – which can offer a range of beyond 600 miles – Schuster said: “They are in a price range which is not competitive. That’s fact today, and when we will see it in a competition against lithium iron, then [we will take note].”
Source: Autocar
