The meteoric rise of electric vehicles (EVs) poses immense challenges for automakers. In addition to developing new models, platforms and setting up new production environments, the topic of battery cell production is a hot topic, with most still sourced from Asia. We take a closer look at the supplier relationships, production networks and future plans of some of the leading German manufacturers.

Sustainability and local production go hand-in-hand

BMW relies on an extensive network of suppliers and a high degree of localisation, but plans to expand it further with more local suppliers for its vehicle assembly plants Europe, the US and Asia, according to head of purchasing, Andreas Wendt. Currently, the cells come from CATL in China and Samsung in South Korea. These are supplemented by CATL units built in Erfurt, Germany, and with Samsung batteries made in Hungary from this year. There are further plans to add cells from Eve-Power in China from 2023.