800-volt battery at last

BMW presents new 800-volt electric architecture

The "Energy Master" is the control center in BMW's new electric architecture.(Bild: BMW)

BMW will start series production of the new iX3, the first model in the "New Class", this year. The Munich-based company has now provided details of the drive and battery system: It is an 800-volt architecture developed entirely in-house, which appears to be absolutely future-proof.

With the new, 6th generation of "BMW eDrive technology" (Gen6 for short), BMW claims to have made a "technological leap forward". "The improvements on the product side include a 30% higher charging speed and range - even more on a model-specific basis," says the Munich-based company.

Thanks to its new, even flatter design, the high-voltage battery can be integrated into different models regardless of the vehicle height. The high-voltage battery takes on the role of a structural component in the bodies of the New Class ("pack-to-open body"). The new round cells are integrated directly into the high-voltage battery ("cell-to-pack"). Compared to its predecessors, the prismatic battery cells of the Gen5, the new round cell has a 20% higher energy density. Bidirectional charging is standard.

BMW has not yet specified specific charging times, but it should be possible to "fill up" with at least 300 kilometers of range within ten minutes. And based on the BMW i5, which charges from 10 to 80% in 30 minutes, a 30% improvement means a charging time of 21 minutes.

"BMW Energy Master" as the control center
The "BMW Energy Master", whose hardware and software was developed by BMW itself, takes over the complete control. It is located on the high-voltage battery and acts as an interface for the high-voltage and low-voltage power supply as well as for the data from the high-voltage battery. It also controls the power supply to the electric motor and the vehicle electrical system. It also ensures safe and intelligent operation of the high-voltage battery. Further developments and updates for the vehicles can be installed over the air.

Batteries from five plants
The high-voltage batteries for the New Class are assembled in five new production plants, which the BMW Group is locating close to its vehicle plants in line with the "local for local" principle. State-of-the-art assembly sites for the Gen6 high-voltage batteries are being built in Irlbach-Straßkirchen (Lower Bavaria), Debrecen (Hungary), Shenyang (China), San Luis Potosí (Mexico) and Woodruff near Spartanburg (USA).

Motors come from Steyr
In future, customers will be able to choose between models with one, two, three or four motors. Asynchronous motors (ASM) as well as current-excited synchronous machines (SSM) will be used. The new electric motors promise 40% less energy loss, 20% better cost efficiency and 10% less weight compared to Generation 5. The noise level has also been further reduced by optimizing the transmission.

Series production will start in summer 2025 at the Steyr plant in Upper Austria. Pre-series production has been underway since September 2024. The e-motor production facility there has a capacity of 600,000 e-drives per year. Diesel and petrol engines will continue to be manufactured at the site in parallel.