BMW confirms it will adopt Tesla’s 4680 cell format, pledging billions of dollars for six global battery factories

BMW Group has come out and publicly stated that its future success in a competitive EV market relies heavily on “powerful, innovative, and sustainably produced” battery cells. When BMW’s Neue Klasse (new class) EV architecture launches in 2025, the German automaker says the EV platforms will utilize newly developed 46-mm-diameter battery cells, the same larger design Tesla is using.

This past August, we covered a report that BMW was planning to adopt Tesla’s 4680 (46 mm by 80 mm) cylindrical battery cells – the largest EV cells to date. Tesla has already been manufacturing the 4680 cells itself at Gigafactory Texas, but the automaker has also been recruiting other battery manufacturers to help produce the cell to maximize its availability.

One of the interested parties was EVE Energy in China, which was reportedly going to be producing the 4680 EV cells for BMW as well. At the time, the German automaker would not comment, but said battery news would be coming in early September.

Here we are, just over a week into the month and BMW has confirmed it will adopt 46-mm-diameter cells for its next EV platform, but with a twist. Furthermore, we’ve learned that the automaker is throwing down double-digit billions to battery manufacturers to erect gigafactories in Europe, China, and the USMCA free trade zone (US, Mexico, Canada).