BMW and Rimac: A European Alliance to Challenge Asian Dominance in Electric Vehicle Battery Technology

BMW and Croatia’s Rimac have joined forces in a partnership to collaborate on high-voltage electric vehicle battery technology. This European alliance aims to compete with Asian dominance in this field and expand Rimac’s reach as a supplier of battery systems and powertrain components to other automakers. The goal is to produce 100,000 batteries annually between 2024 and 2026.

As automakers face increasing pressure to reduce capital spending on electric vehicles, premium EV startup Lucid is also looking to boost sales by selling its electric drive technology to other car manufacturers like Aston Martin. In 2023, Rimac’s CEO Mate Rimac announced that an undisclosed German automaker would be using Rimac’s battery system in a high-performance model with an annual production of around 40,000 units starting this year, with more partnerships in the pipeline.

While BMW has not disclosed specific details about which batteries or models will be developed through this partnership with Rimac, it was noted that the collaboration does not apply to the new cylindrical batteries that will power the ‘Neue Klasse’ EV line scheduled for production in 2025. BMW achieved an all-electric sales share of 15% last year and aims to increase that figure to 50% well before 2030.

BMW has its own battery cell research center in Germany but has chosen to partner with companies like CATL and EVE Energy for large-scale battery cell development. These partnerships involve multi-billion-euro orders to produce battery cells in China and Europe.