As raw materials prices surge globally, cylindrical cells may save 30% of the cost for BMW.
China’s electric vehicle battery maker CATL reached an agreement with BMW that will see the firm supply cylindrical cells to BMW’s electric vehicles from 2025.
According to public information, the cylindrical cells will be installed on vehicles that are produced by BMW’s platform of Neue Klasse, or new class.
Neue Klasse will be rolled out in 2025 and used to produce mid-size cars, such as BMW’s electric edition of its Series 3 model. Cylindrical cells can save 30% of the costs for BMW, said one of the sources familiar with the matter.
BMW is the earliest of OEMs to cooperate with CATL, with their collaboration dating back more than 10 years.
In 2019, CATL and BMW reached a purchase agreement, whereby the battery orders increased to EUR 7.3 billion (USD 7.8 billion) from EUR 4 billion, making CATL the biggest battery provider for BMW. Meanwhile, the duration of the purchase contract is from 2020 to 2031.
Despite the new agreement between CATL and BMW, Tesla is still the largest client for CATL. CATL posted a total revenue of CNY 13.04 billion (USD 1.96 billion) in 2021, and battery sales to Tesla took 10% of CATL’s revenue, according to its financial report of 2021.
Information from research institution SNE shows that China’s EV battery makers grew at a steady pace in the first quarter of 2022. CATL, BYD, CALB, Gotion High-Tech (Chinese: 国轩高科), Svolt Energy (Chinese: 蜂巢能源), Eve Energy (Chinese: 亿纬锂能) are among the top 10 players. Notably, CATL ranked first with a 35% global market share.