BMW to improve electric vehicle range by 30 per cent with Tesla-like batteries

BMW has shown off a new-generation of battery cells, which it says increases energy density by more than 20 per cent.

Set to debut on BMW’s upcoming ‘Neue Klasse’ electric vehicle platform from 2025, the carmaker claims the round battery cells – which share a striking similarity to Tesla’s ‘4680’ batteries – also improve charging and driving range.

“The newly-developed sixth generation of our lithium-ion cells will bring a huge leap in technology that will increase energy density by more than 20 per cent, improve charging speed by up to 30 per cent and enhance range by up to 30 per cent,” Frank Weber, BMW’s head of development, said at the announcement.

“We are also reducing CO2 emissions from cell production by up to 60 per cent. These are big steps for sustainability and customer benefits,” Mr Weber added.

As well as reducing CO2 emissions during cell production by 60 per cent, the German car giant says it expects production costs to be slashed by half when compared to current fifth-generation batteries.

The company said in a statement it has set itself a goal of “bringing manufacturing costs for fully-electric models down to the same level as vehicles with state-of-the-art combustion-engine technology”.

Curiously, the new BMW round cells are also 46mm in diameter – though they are set to be manufactured in two different as-yet-unspecified heights.