BMW opens new battery plant in Germany to supply Neue Klasse BMW i3

BMW Group has opened its new battery assembly plant in Irlbach-Straßkirchen, Bavaria, with production now under way.

The facility represents an investment of around €1 billion and covers 60 hectares. As an important part of BMW's global production network, it will produce sixth-generation high-voltage batteries for the new BMW i3 built at the company's Munich plant.

Built in less than two years

Construction officially began in April 2024, with the first pre-production batteries rolling off the line in March 2026. The entire construction and equipment installation process took less than two years.

As demand for BMW's Neue Klasse electric models proves strong, production has ramped up faster than expected, with the plant already operating on a two-shift system from the start of series production.

Once fully operational, around 1,600 employees will work across two production lines, with the plant capable of producing several hundred high-voltage batteries a day.

The plant is also designed around lower environmental impact. It uses no fossil fuels in day-to-day operations, while all additional energy required comes from renewable sources. Battery assembly also requires no water.

BMW also uses recycled cobalt, lithium and nickel in some of the battery cells it procures.

New BMW i3 gets up to 906 km

The new BMW i3 is among the first models to use BMW's sixth-generation high-voltage battery technology.

The battery has a capacity of 108.7 kWh and uses a cell-to-pack design integrated into the vehicle structure through a pack-to-open-body approach.

The launch-spec BMW i3 50 xDrive has a claimed WLTP range of up to 906 km.

The battery system also uses an 800V architecture and supports DC charging at up to 400 kW. BMW says a 10-minute charge can add up to 423 km of range, while bidirectional charging is also supported.

Regional production and recycling

BMW Group is following a regional battery production strategy, with high-voltage battery assembly plants in Debrecen, Hungary; Shenyang, China; Woodruff, USA; and San Luis Potosí, Mexico.

The aim is to keep battery transport distances short by locating battery plants close to vehicle production facilities.

BMW has also established a complete battery ecosystem in Bavaria covering research and development, production and recycling.

The Cell Recycling Competence Centre (CRCC) in Salching, just 16 km from Irlbach-Straßkirchen, began operations in December 2025. It uses BMW's direct recycling technology to mechanically dismantle batteries and recover key raw materials without the energy-intensive chemical or thermal processing normally associated with battery recycling.