BERLIN: BMW is betting on systematic design and recycling to reduce battery costs and is steering clear of investing in mines, its finance chief said, setting it apart from some competitors digging deep into the supply chain.
“We do not think it is right to invest in mines. We view it as more significant to get back raw materials from vehicles and other products,” finance chief Nicolas Peter said in an interview.
BMW battery cell research centre
BMW has its battery cell research centre in Germany but has left large-scale development to allies, placing multi-billion-euro orders with CATL and EVE Energy to produce battery cells in Europe and China.
Bringing down battery costs, most of which come from raw materials, is the key challenge for vehicle makers attempting to create profits from electric vehicles equivalent to those reaped from combustion engine cars, a target BMW hopes to reach with its “Neue Klasse” electrical vehicles-only line launching mid-decade.
Some, like Volkswagen, are betting on expanding their battery production and investing in mines to secure control down the supply chain.
Mercedes-Benz said it had made a “fundamental decision” to allocate capital to mining and had set up a raw material office in Canada, where it signed the raw materials agreement last year.
Peter said investing in technologies requiring less raw critical minerals, including hydrogen-powered cars, was another way to reduce costs.
The carmaker has the battery cell recycling facility via its joint venture in China but does not see the need to develop large cell recycling facilities of its own, Peter said.
Instead, he said it would prove demand for recycled raw materials via the sales growth of its electric cars and work with partners to recycle at scale.
“With our business development, we’re creating the motivation to invest – but we don’t need to develop big recycling facilities for battery cells ourselves,” Peter said.
