BMW spends billions on securing batteries and powertrains for EVs

You may not have heard of CATL, but the Chinese company is the world's third largest EV battery supplier and also supplies electronics manufacturers such as Panasonic and e-bike manufacturers such as BYD. BMW Group will increase CATL's order from four billion euros ($ 4.43 billion) announced last year to 7.3 billion euros ($ 8.09 billion) for a contract from 2020 to 2031[ads1].

In addition, BMW signed a contract for the purchase of electric station trains from Samsung SDI for 2.9 billion euros ($ 3.21 billion), which runs from 2021 to 2031.

Securing a battery supply is no small business for a automotive industry, due to limited deliveries of the rare items required for the manufacturing process. Therefore, Ford produces only a limited number of Mustang Mach-E cars.

BMW announced that it will tackle the rare element by directly purchasing its own cobalt and lithium from the mines in Australia and Morocco and then supplying the materials to CATL and Samsung SDI. The company says it is taking this step, so it can be safe where the material comes from, in order to comply with environmental standards and respect the human rights of the miners.

By 2021, the company plans to strengthen its supply chain for batteries by reducing dependence on these rare elements, with fifth-generation electric powertrains produced without the use of rare earths.