Descărcați "2022 BMW i4 – PRODUCTION PLANT in GERMANY"

The first series-produced BMW i4 has today rolled off the production lines at BMW Group Plant Munich. The company’s home plant now manufactures all drive variants on a single assembly line. “For the plant and team, the launch of the BMW i4 is a milestone on the road to electric mobility,” said Milan Nedeljković, BMW AG Board Member for Production. “By 2023 more than half of all vehicles from our Munich facility will have an electrified drive. The majority will be fully electric. So Munich goes fully electric.” Setting up production of the fully electric BMW i4 in the confines of the almost 100-year-old plant, the conversion and installation of systems proved particularly challenging. “We succeeded in integrating the new vehicle into our existing systems without halting production. The team and our partners did an amazing job,” added Peter Weber, Director of BMW Group Plant Munich. Space constraints notwithstanding, existing systems were removed, and new ones installed and ramped up. “Our bodyshop is a shining example of intelligent, efficient integration. Most of the new production processes for the BMW i4 can be carried out on the existing bodyshop systems,” Weber explained. Integrating electromobility into series production The main difference between the BMW i4 and conventional architectures is the electric drive and high-voltage battery. About 90 percent of the existing systems in the Munich bodyshop can still be used for the new model. Additional ones were required only for the floor assembly and rear end. Another highly complex topic was the integration into assembly of the high-voltage battery. The battery pack is now bolted onto the body by a new, fully automated battery assembly system that works from below. Fully automated, high-resolution camera systems scan it thoroughly beforehand to ensure the surface is absolutely clean and there are no impurities that could cause damage. The BMW Group’s home plant now manufactures an extensive portfolio of products, comprising not only the BMW i4 but also the combustion-powered and hybrid BMW 3 Series Sedan and Touring, the BMW M3 and the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe. The scope of production is a testament not only to the plant’s flexibility but also to the outstanding skills of its associates. The integration of the BMW i4 into existing production structures came at an investment of €200 million. The i4 is an important trailblazer for the Neue Klasse, due for rollout in Munich and other plants around the middle of this decade, and designed purely for electric powertrains. The BMW Group first announced its plans to upgrade Plant Munich for electromobility less than a year ago: new vehicle assembly and bodyshop facilities were to be constructed, and engine production was to relocate to other parts of the production network. Since then, hundreds of associates have started working at other technologies or other facilities. By the end of this year, four-cylinder engine production will have relocated to Hams Hall, UK, and Steyr, Austria. The relocation of engine production as a whole from Munich will reach completion by 2024 at the latest.