# BMW begins production of sixth-generation battery in Shenyang

BMW began production of its sixth-generation battery at its Shenyang powertrain plant on October 15, supplying domestically built Neue Klasse models\. The battery uses large cylindrical cells, and BMW set an internal quality standard of 0\.01 ppm for it\.

By China EV Signal
Published: 2026-10-23T14:30:45.130Z
Updated: 2026-10-23T14:30:45.132Z
Canonical article: https://chinaevsignal.com/news/bmw-sixth-generation-battery-shenyang-production

## Key takeaways

- BMW started production of the sixth-generation battery at its Shenyang powertrain plant on October 15, supplying domestically built Neue Klasse models\.
- BMW set an internal quality standard of 0\.01 ppm for the sixth-generation battery, and more than 360 photos are recorded for each large cylindrical cell\.
- The Shenyang plant began trial production of the energy control system in September, which BMW says is the only production site for this core component outside Germany\.

## Production starts in Shenyang

BMW began production of its sixth-generation battery at its Shenyang powertrain plant on October 15, supplying domestically built Neue Klasse models\. The company held the milestone during a visit by Chairman Dr\. Nikolaiev, his first to China since taking the role\.

Rao Guang, BMW's vice president of high-voltage battery and charging development in China, said the team selected large cylindrical cells from more than 20 candidate designs\.

## Quality and assembly controls

BMW set an internal quality standard of 0\.01 ppm for the sixth-generation battery, or one part in 100 million\. More than 360 photos are recorded for each large cylindrical cell as an identification record\.

The assembly workshop has 64 fixed assembly points, with tightening data recorded for key bolts\. Ten high-definition industrial cameras check high-voltage wiring connector status, bolt points, insulating parts and sealant condition at the same time\.

## Energy control system production

The energy control system is a central control unit mounted on top of the battery pack\. It manages high-voltage battery operation and links the battery with the electric drive system and the vehicle's power demand\. BMW developed both its software and hardware in-house\.

During the Landshut technology days in February 2025, the local plant was in trial production of the component, and BMW planned for Landshut to supply energy control systems to battery assembly plants worldwide\. In September, the Shenyang powertrain plant began trial production of the energy control system; BMW says Shenyang is the only site outside Germany able to produce this core component\.

## Testing beyond national standards

BMW's vibration test simulates a 60 km daily commute over 18 years and 10 months\. China's national standard requires 36 hours of continuous vibration on a washboard road\. The extrusion test is set at 12 tonnes, above the national standard of 10 tonnes, and the damp-heat test runs for six weeks, compared with 62 hours under the national standard\.

The high-voltage battery test center at BMW's Shenyang research and development center tests battery degradation and adaptability across temperatures from -40°C to 90°C\.

## Range test and charging architecture

An internal extreme range test of the Neue Klasse BMW i3 50L drove 1,213 km without recharging, arriving with 1% battery remaining\. The test vehicle has a total battery capacity of 113\.4 kWh and BMW lists average energy consumption of 8\.8 kWh/100 km\.

The Neue Klasse platform uses an 800 V architecture with peak charging power of 400 kW\. To remove heat generated by fast charging and sustained high-power output, the sixth-generation battery places an independent cooling plate between every two rows of cells\.

## Original publisher

晚点Auto. Published: 2026-10-23T14:09:10.000Z