Eve Energy will be the main battery supplier for BMW electric vehicles in Europe from 2025, according to an agency report. To that end, Eve Energy may also plan to build a battery plant near the BMW plant in Hungary.
Established in 2001, Eve Energy is a lithium battery manufacturer that was first listed on the Shenzhen Growth Enterprise Market in 2009. Before going public in 2009, the company’s core business was high-energy lithium primary batteries with independent intellectual property rights. In the following few years, the company has gradually acquired power storage batteries and other production businesses.
On the evening of August 11, Eve Energy announced that it plans to raise no more than 9 billion yuan to invest in passenger car lithium-ion power battery projects, HBF16GWh passenger car lithium-ion power battery projects and supplement working capital. Among them, the passenger car lithium-ion power battery project with an investment of 4.375 billion yuan plans to use the raised funds of 3.400 billion yuan; the HBF16GWh passenger car lithium-ion power battery project with a total investment of 4.127 billion yuan plans to use the raised funds of 2.600 billion yuan; 3.000 billion yuan is planned to be used to supplement working capital.
Eve Energy said that the implementation of this fundraising project will, on the one hand, improve the company’s production capacity of high-quality lithium-ion batteries and realize the expansion of high-quality production capacity of power storage lithium-ion batteries; on the other hand, it will also help the company improve its product lineage , to meet the diversified needs of customers for high-quality lithium-ion batteries in stages, and to enhance the market share and core competitiveness of power storage lithium-ion batteries.
Reuters reported on two insiders. According to one of the informants, the contract has already been signed. Eve Energy would not comment on this information. A BMW spokesperson said the company plans to release “some battery-related news” in early September — BMW did not elaborate on current reports.
Eve Energy already supplies batteries to BMW in China, and is expected to supply BMW with large round batteries in the future. According to reports, BMW plans to use the 46-series cylindrical, highly flexible cells, depending on the vehicle type. In the current generation of electric vehicles, the Munich-based company still relies on square aluminum-cased batteries from suppliers such as CATL and Samsung SDI — such as in the i4, iX and i7.
This is in line with BMW’s plans, which have come to light. In May, it was reported that BMW was planning to convert the new level of square cells to round cells. Later, further reports from South Korean and German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung said it would be a circular battery with a diameter of 46mm. Unlike Tesla, however, BMW isn’t committing to a fixed 4680 gauge (80mm in length), but a flexible height depending on vehicle type.
It’s not entirely clear where Eve Energy will make the round batteries for BMW. Eve Energy is planning to build a large cylindrical battery factory in central China, Reuters reported, citing company documents. In April, Eve Energy announced it would build a 50 GWh plant in Chengdu, but did not specify which battery size it would use. Eve Energy already has the technical capacity, as the company is a production partner for Israeli battery developer StoreDot’s extremely fast-charging 4680 batteries. It’s unclear, though, whether the technology will also be used in BMW’s large-capacity circular batteries.
In the long term, Eve Energy can also supply the BMW plant under construction in Debrecen, Hungary, where the New Class will initially be built. Back in late March, reports emerged that Eve Energy was also looking to build its first European battery factory in Debrecen. According to the announcement at the time, Eve Energy had signed a non-binding letter of intent with the city government to acquire 45 hectares of land in an industrial area to build a cylindrical battery production plant there.
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