BMW Group Hydroelectricity Plant Produced Its New Electric Cars

The BMW Group produced the new electric BMW iX and BMW i4 at Plants Dingolfing and Munich entirely powered with regional green hydroelectricity. 

“To reduce the carbon footprint of our production processes, contracts have been signed with Stadtwerke Munchen and RWE Supply & Trading for energy to be supplied by hydroelectricity from the rivers of Isar and Lech,” said Board Member for Production Milan Nedeljkovic. 

Nedeljkovic explained that they will source its renewable electricity directly from regional providers based close to its plants.

Green electricity needed for the BMW iX production will come from the Isar hydroelectric power stations Uppenborn between Moosburg and Landshut but the production of BMW i4 will be powered by the Lech hydroelectric power stations in Gersthofen and Rain. 

The energy that they supply also used to manufacture a wide range of components for the two electric models at BMW Group Plants Landshut, Dingolfing and Berlin. 

Since 2013, the four wind turbines at Plant Leipzig have provided all the electricity needed to manufacture the BMW i3. Also, BMW Group production network is the newest plant, in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, which the production is largely powered using energy from large solar arrays.

The energy goals that the BMW Group has set are designed for the longer term. Between 2006 and 2019, emissions from production fell by more than 70 percent per car. 

“We want to cut CO2 emissions by another 80 percent by 2030 and to less than 10 percent of what they were in 2006,” Nedeljkovic explains. 

BMW Group has a strong foundation to build on and raised the bar repeatedly over the last few decades in terms of sustainability. The continuous improvement remains central to the strategy to cut CO2 emissions and increase resource efficiency. 

Since 2020, BMW Group has been systematically investing in improving energy efficiency to 100 percent. It parts by capitalising on the opportunities of digitalisation. Data analytics has helped to make the production more efficient for instance with predictive machine maintenance and by minimising the number of parts rejected from the body shop. 

CO2 EMISSIONS & CONSUMPTION.

BMW iX : Fuel consumption combined : 0.0-litres/100km, electricity consumption combined : < 21 kWh/100km, CO2 emissions combined: 0-g/km. (provisional figures based on forecasts)

BMW i3 : Fuel consumption combined: 0.0-litres/100km; electricity consumption combined : 13.1 kWh/100km (NEDC) / 16.3-15.3 kWh/100km (WLTP); CO2 emissions combined: 0-g/km.