From groundbreaking to series production in about two and a half years

The official opening on 1 October 2026 came roughly two and a half years after work started. Planning permission was granted in April 2024, after a local referendum in Straßkirchen approved the project, and pre-series battery production began in March 2026. BMW says demand for the new i3 is strong enough that the plant is already running two shifts.

Around 1,000 people work at the site today, a figure expected to grow to about 1,600. Output will ramp up gradually to several hundred battery packs per day.

An assembly plant, not a cell factory

Irlbach-Straßkirchen does not make battery cells. BMW buys cylindrical 46 mm round cells from CATL and EVE and assembles them into complete high-voltage packs, which then pass an end-of-line inspection before shipping. The switch from prismatic to round cells is a key part of the Gen6 package: BMW quotes about 20% higher volumetric energy density, up to 30% more WLTP range and shorter charging times than the previous generation.

In the new i3, that translates into a WLTP range of more than 900 km and charging at up to 400 kW.

Part of a global "local for local" network

The plant initially supplies BMW's Munich factory and will later serve Dingolfing, Regensburg and Leipzig as more Neue Klasse models enter production. It is one of five battery assembly sites BMW has built close to its vehicle plants, alongside Debrecen (Hungary), Shenyang (China), Woodruff (USA) and San Luis Potosí (Mexico), so that heavy battery packs travel only short distances to the assembly line.

With Irlbach-Straßkirchen online, BMW now has the battery capacity at home to back the Neue Klasse rollout, starting with the i3 and expanding to its other German plants over the coming years.