BMW has expended battery assembly capability to support production of its plug-in hybrid X3 and X5 SUVs.
BMW
If demand for fuel efficient luxury SUVs soars next year, BMW will be ready. The German automotive company announced that it has doubled the production capability of its battery assembly lines at its Spartanburg manufacturing facility.
The South Carolina production plant is where BMW builds its sport activity vehicles, including the plug-in hybrid variants of the X5 and the X3. When the revamped 2020 BMW X5 xDrive45e and upcoming 2020 BMW X3 xDrive30e plug-in hybrids hit the market in the next few months, they’ll be sporting the company’s fourth generation lithium-ion battery packs to propel these heavy SUVs using electricity rather than gasoline.
The expanded capacity signals that the company sees higher-than-anticipated growth of its plug-in hybrids. Already the X5 and X3 are top-moving vehicles for the brand, with 45,013 and 61,351 sold in 2018 respectively. However, it’s not clear what percentage of these sales were plug-in hybrids. The company doesn’t publish monthly sales figures by model variants, and a BMW spokesperson could not provide this information by the time of publication. Earlier this year the company announced 2018 sales of more than 142,617 BMW and Mini vehicles with either fully or partially electrified powertrains. It also revealed that these electrified vehicles accounted for 6% of total BMW and MINI sales in 2018, and 7% of BMW Group’s sales in the U.S., which means that more than 25,000 vehicles it sold in in the U.S. last year had plugs, according to the company.
That number will likely continue to grow with launch of the new plug-in hybrid variant of its popular X3 compact crossover, which is scheduled to begin production in December.
“We have invested approximately $10 million USD to install a new battery assembly line and expanded the area to 86,000 square feet. This means we could double the number of batteries produced if needed to meet market demand,” said Michael Nikolaides, BMW senior vice president of engines and electrified drivetrains, in a news statement.
BMW was unable to share information about any market data that motivated the expansion of the battery assembly lines and production area. However, the company noted that the X5 and X3 were among the best-selling vehicles in their class and expects the plug-in hybrid variants will be well-received by customers.
