BMW has completed hundreds of structural and equipment upgrades at its Regensburg plant in Germany as it prepares for the rollout of Neue Klasse electric vehicles. The investment enables the factory to perform a key new production step that joins the high-voltage battery directly to the vehicle body.
Regensburg Plant Gets Major Production Overhaul
The upgrades were completed during a three-week production shutdown that ran from August 8 through August 30. More than 1,000 employees from partner companies worked at the facility while the X1 and X2 were temporarily absent from the assembly lines.
Production of the two compact crossovers in Regensburg has since resumed as planned. The changes were designed to prepare the plant for BMW’s next generation of EVs while maintaining production flexibility.
At the center of the overhaul is a new “Vormontage Energiemodule” (VEM), or energy module pre-assembly area, integrated directly into the vehicle assembly process. BMW calls the critical step “Speicher-Hochzeit,” which roughly translates to “battery marriage.”
BMW’s New “Battery Marriage” Process
The new process is where the high-voltage battery is joined to the vehicle body. In a traditional automotive “marriage,” the combustion engine is connected to the body, while Neue Klasse production brings the battery and body together at the beginning of final assembly.
BMW has installed a dedicated assembly line for the operation, as well as a high-bay warehouse large enough to store enough energy modules for an entire day of production.
The batteries are automatically moved from the warehouse to the VEM line through a conveyor bridge. Each energy module arrives in the correct sequence and at precisely the right time.
Robots then secure the battery to the vehicle body, making the high-voltage energy storage system part of the vehicle’s structure. Once the process is completed, the vehicle continues through the standard assembly flow.
Hundreds of Changes Across the Regensburg Factory
The battery assembly system was only one part of BMW’s work during the shutdown. The company carried out hundreds of modifications across the press shop, body shop, paint shop, vehicle assembly and logistics operations.
A key objective was to make production systems flexible enough to build existing BMW models and Neue Klasse vehicles on the same lines. That flexibility is becoming increasingly important as BMW transitions toward a mixed lineup of combustion-engined, plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles.
Regensburg already produces all three powertrain types on a single production line. More than 1,400 X1s and X2s roll off the assembly line each day.
Regensburg Could Build the Next-Generation iX1
BMW says production of Neue Klasse models will begin at Regensburg in the second half of this decade. The timeline remains vague, but the article expects production to begin late next year, with the next-generation iX1 potentially leading the rollout.
The new iX1 has already been spotted testing with its full production body and final lights. Codenamed NB5, the revamped electric crossover is rumored to enter production in November 2027.
According to the article’s sources, BMW is completely revamping the iX1 rather than giving it a facelift. The model is expected to move to a rear-wheel-drive platform, while cylindrical battery cells are expected to provide greater range than today’s prismatic cells.
The redesigned electric crossover is also expected to resemble a smaller iX3, with the iDrive X central display and pillar-to-pillar windshield projection.
If series production begins in a little over a year, the first deliveries should start in early 2028.
