BMW launches two electric trucks in Leipzig
The German automotive company BMW has launched two Designwerk electric trucks for operations to supply the factory in Leipzig. Operations are already running between the high-voltage battery production halls at BMW Group Plant Leipzig and the supplying component warehouse and are estimated to save around nine tonnes of CO2 per year compared to their diesel counterparts.
In terms of the actual distance they will cover, it is only an eight kilometre round trip between the two facilities, but the electric trucks will be expected to complete the route up to twelve times per day, as the BMW plant operates in three shifts.
The Designwerk trucks run on four drives , delivering 610 hp (about 450 kW) and run on 340 kWh batteries. These take about 1.5 hours to charge to 80 per cent, and are to be charged during the drivers breaks.
Battery production at the factory in Leipzig only started earlier this year, after initially announcing the plans last summer. Interestingly enough, these are not the only electric trucks from Designwerk at work in Leipzig, as Porsche also runs a factory there which uses seven electric trucks in its operations, although the manufacturer maintains a fleet of varying electric trucks, including Scania and Daimler Truck. Porsche’s battery supplier Dräxlmeier also has a major facility in Leipzig.
At its factory in Leipzig, BMW manufactures high-voltage batteries for the MINI Countryman Electric, as well as battery packs and modules for the BMW production network, supplying the components for the fully electric BMW iX1, BMW iX2, BMW i4, BMW i5 and BMW iX.
Plant Director Petra Peterhänsel commented on the two electric trucks as a major operational milestone: “We are delighted to be undertaking this journey with our longstanding logistics partner, the Rudolph Logisitik Gruppe. The transition to electromobility and sustainable production affects not only our BMW and MINI cars but our production methods and supply chains as well.”
0 Comments