BMW started mass production of its sixth-generation high-voltage batteries in Shenyang on Thursday. The company invested 10 billion yuan ($1.49 billion) to supply its upcoming Neue Klasse electric vehicle lineup.

The 240,000-square-metre facility expands the German carmaker’s battery footprint in Liaoning province to five times its previous size.

Output will initially feed assembly lines for the China-exclusive Neue Klasse iX3 sport utility vehicle and the long-wheelbase i3 sedan. Shenyang is BMW’s third battery plant globally to build the Gen 6 pack. It joins sites in Debrecen, Hungary, and Irlbach-Strasskirchen, Germany. Outside Germany, the Chinese complex is the only location producing the Energy Master central control unit, an in-house hardware and software module that manages high-voltage power distribution.

The new powertrain switches to large cylindrical cells integrated into an 800-volt electrical architecture. BMW tested the setup in a long-wheelbase i3 50L sedan over expressways, national highways, and urban streets. It logged a road-test range of 1,213 kilometres on a single charge with 1 per cent battery capacity remaining. The vehicle carried a 113.4-kilowatt-hour battery pack. It averaged power consumption of 8.8 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres.

Charging hardware on the Neue Klasse platform accepts direct-current rates up to 400 kilowatts. That rate replenishes 400 kilometres of driving range in 10 minutes. Rear-wheel-drive configurations anchored initial trials. Dual-motor all-wheel-drive editions will output 345 kilowatts (463 horsepower) and 645 Newton-metres of torque.

BMW Brilliance split cell sourcing between domestic suppliers. It secured large cylindrical ternary lithium packs from EVE Energy for top-trim 50L models, alongside contracts with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.

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