The BMW logo can be seen in the rim of a BMW Concept 4. (picture alliance/dpa)
BMW has secured lithium for its vehicle battery cells to the value of 540 million euros (600 million dollars) from Chinese producer Ganfeng, the German carmaker said in Munich on Wednesday.
"By signing this contract, we are securing our demand for lithium for battery cells," BMW purchases executive Andreas Wendt said. The contract runs to the end of 2024.
"By 2021, we aim to have 25 electric models in our range, more than half of them fully electric," Wendt said. By that time a third of the upmarket carmaker's production will be hybrid or fully electric.
Ganfeng sources its lithium in Australia.
From next year, BMW will also be buying in its own cobalt, which will in future be taken from mines in Australia and Morocco.
BMW said the contracts would guarantee supplies up to 2025. It supplies the raw materials to battery cell makers CATL and Samsung SDI.
BMW is manufacturing its own batteries at its plants at Dingolfing in Germany, Spartanburg in the United States and Shenyang in China.
It has concluded deals up to 2031 with CATL for 7.3 billion euros and with Samsung SDI for 2.9 billion euros.
According to Germany's Federal Statistics Office, Germany imported 202 million lithium ion batteries to the value of 2.4 billion euros last year.
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