BMW will leave the remaining order of about 70 GWh of its 160 GWh battery needs to be shared between CATL and Eve Energy, according to local media.
Svolt Energy, a battery maker spun off from Great Wall Motor, will be BMW’s battery supplier in addition to CATL and Eve Energy, a new report said.
Svolt Energy has been awarded an order to supply nearly 90 GWh of battery capacity to BMW in Europe, valued at up to RMB 96 billion ($13 billion), local media outlet 36kr reported today, citing several industry chain sources.
BMW began recruiting suppliers for about 160 GWh of battery demand at the beginning of the year, and the remaining order of about 70 GWh in China will be shared between CATL and Eve Energy, according to the report.
BMW announced battery supply relationships with CATL and Eve Energy in September 2022, and Svolt Energy becoming a new supplier to BMW was a surprise.
Svolt Energy will initially plan two cell production lines for BMW, and will build corresponding battery module and pack production lines, according to 36kr’s report today.
The cells to be supplied to BMW will be Svolt Energy’s short blade cells, which will be used in a CTP (cell to pack) mode in BMW’s new-generation platform for purely electric vehicle models, according to the report.
Svolt Energy and BMW signed a contract in July for the battery supply, and the SOP (start of production) will be the end of 2027, a source close to the battery maker told 36kr.
BMW’s requirements for the batteries are stringent, and battery makers will need to work very hard to get into its supply chain, the report noted.
If BMW’s order goes through to mass production, Svolt Energy and Eve Energy, which are smaller battery makers, will benefit significantly and will also lay the groundwork for them to gain more customers, the report said.
On September 9, 2022, BMW announced that it had awarded contracts worth more than ten billion euros to CATL and Eve Energy for its cell production needs.
The two partners will build two cell factories each in China and Europe, each with an annual capacity of 20 GWh, BMW said at the time, adding that it will also look for partners to build two more cell factories in the North American Free Trade Zone.
BMW will first use cylindrical cells in new-generation models from 2025, and this sixth-generation lithium-ion cell will allow for more than a 20 percent increase in energy density, as much as a 30 percent increase in range, and as much as a 30 percent increase in charging speed, it said at the time.
CATL is the world’s largest power battery maker, with a 36.9 percent global share in the January-August period, according to data released on October 11 by South Korean market researcher SNE Research.
Eve Energy’s global share was 2.1 percent in January-August, according to the 10 battery makers with the highest market share published by SNE Research. Svolt Energy failed to enter the ranking.
Separately, according to China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance (CABIA), Svolt Energy ranked seventh in China with a 2.73 percent share in September, and Eve Energy ranked fourth with a 5.06 percent share.
($1 = RMB 7.2993)
Global EV battery market share in Jan-Aug: CATL 36.9%, BYD 15.9%
