BMW adds Samsung SDI and LG Energy Solution to Neue Klasse cell roster

BMW is widening its battery cell Rolodex ahead of the Neue Klasse. The automaker has signed Samsung SDI for Europe and LG Energy Solution for the USA to supply sixth-generation (Gen6) high-voltage batteries, according to Electrive. Deliveries are expected to start at the end of the 2020s.

The logic is simple: build the cells where the cars are built. BMW calls it the "local for local" principle — shorter transport routes, more regional value creation, fewer supply shocks. "Diversifying procurement is an integral part of the BMW Group's purchasing strategy," said Nicolai Martin, the board member for Purchasing and Supplier Network, adding that the partnerships strengthen value creation in Europe and the US.

Europe now gets three cell makers for BMW: CATL, EVE Energy and Samsung SDI. In the US, LGES carries the load alone. The factories are clustered tight around BMW's plants — EVE Energy has built a cell plant near BMW's new Debrecen site in Hungary, CATL is ramping up a second Hungarian factory in Debrecen alongside its existing Arnstadt plant in Thuringia, and Samsung SDI has long run a plant in Göd, Hungary, where 2023 rumours pointed to 46120-format cells for BMW. BMW's release confirms neither the cell format nor Samsung SDI's production location.

Assembly follows the same playbook. BMW has set up five Gen6 battery plants next to its vehicle factories: Irlbach-Straßkirchen in Lower Bavaria, Debrecen in Hungary, Shenyang in China, Woodruff in the USA and San Luis Potosí in Mexico.

The supplier shake-up lands as BMW reshapes its chemistry plans too. CEO Milan Nedeljković confirmed on the Q3 earnings call that Neue Klasse EVs will use LFP batteries alongside the originally planned NMC cells — decided case by case on segment and use, not a full switch. LFP is cheaper but delivers different range, he said. The Gen6 packs themselves use 46-millimetre cylindrical cells in two heights, 95 and 120 millimetres, with BMW promising roughly 20 per cent more energy density than the old prismatic NMC cells, plus cell-to-pack integration and a housing that becomes part of the body structure.

BMW isn't outsourcing all the brainwork. It has run a Battery Cell Competence Center in Munich since 2019, a Cell Manufacturing Competence Center in Parsdorf since 2022, and a Cell Recycling Competence Center in Salching since 2024 working on direct recycling. The company notes that regional battery ecosystems take time, heavy investment and dependable political guardrails to industrialise.