BMW to invest £176 million into new battery technologies

BMW have announced their intention to invest €200 million (£176 million) over the next four years by building a new battery technology centre in Munich.

The strangely named Battery Cell Competence Centre (were they incompetent before?), will focus on cell chemistry and cell design with a view to improving performance, lifespan, safety and charging while also reducing costs.

At the moment, most manufacturers purchase batteries from big Far East suppliers such as Samsung but BMW say the move to bring the technology in-house will allow them to design batteries that are better suited to individual products, although the firm say they may still contract out the actual production.

BMW also announced that they are working on their fifth generation of their electric drivetrain for their cars, which will be released in 2021.

This technology will presumably trickle down to the bikes, as it does currently and BMW say this new technology will give some of their vehicles a range of 430 miles.

BMW have been leading the way in recent years with their battery technology and presented the Concept Link electric scooter earlier this year, which is based on their C Evolution production bike.

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