BMW to Upgrade Munich Plant for i4 EV

BMW AG plans to invest €200 million ($226 million) to ready its main Munich assembly plant for the all-new i4 electric sedan, which will launch in 2021.

The i4 will be added to the factory’s current production of the conventionally powered 3 Series sedan (below), 4 Series coupe and M4 performance car. A plug-in hybrid variant of the 3 Series will join the mix next year.

Building the various vehicles on the same line will allow the carmaker to quickly adjust volumes to changing demand levels. But it also increases manufacturing complexity.

BMW notes that the i4’s chassis and body is significantly different than the those of the other vehicles the Munich facility builds. The floor assembly, for example, must accommodate the EV’s battery and electric motors.

Installing the i4’s high-voltage accumulator also will require the use of a large conveyor and other new manufacturing equipment, according to the carmaker.

The Munich facility currently employs about 8,000 people and uses more than 1,000 robots. BMW invested more than €700 million ($790 million) at the facility—adding a new paint shop and expanding the body shop—over the last three years in preparation of this year’s launch of the new 3 Series. That vehicle also is being produced at BMW’s plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and, starting next April, in Tiexi, China.