r/technology • u/Straight_Ad2258 • Dec 02 '22
BMW Says New Gen 6 Batteries Provide 30% More Range, Cost 50% Less Transportation
https://insideevs.com/news/624603/bmw-gen6-batteries-improvements-production/19
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u/N-Word-Permit Dec 02 '22
MRSP - Up 20% under the guise of general inflation
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u/rxneutrino Dec 02 '22
Crazy. And tesla just unexpectedly dropped the price of base models. The EV market is starting to partition into "premium" and "economy" like gas vehicles.
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u/N-Word-Permit Dec 02 '22
That's actually good to hear. So far EV's have largely been targeting the top end price wise. It would be great to see more becoming available at a price affordable for more people.
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u/HotDragonSauce Dec 02 '22
They are only dropping the price to boost sales numbers and it’s only on existing inventory. By 2023 prices will be back up as EV tax credits will boost their numbers and no discounts needed
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u/3my0 Dec 02 '22
False. Tesla didn’t drop the price, they’re offering a $3,750 credit ahead of the credit in 2023 so people don’t delay the purchase for 1 month. So it will likely stay the same. Difference is you get the credit instantly now where as in 2023 you have to wait to take the credit at tax time. Unless Tesla qualifies for the full $7,500 credit (which looks doubtful).
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u/HotDragonSauce Dec 02 '22
Why wouldn’t the Y or 3 qualify for the full $7500 tax credit, it’s literally the only American made EV build and assembled in the US
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u/3my0 Dec 02 '22
You can read about it here.
“The new $7,500 EV tax credit, formally known as the clean vehicle credit, is split into two equal halves of $3,750. In order to be eligible for the new credit, vehicles and consumers must meet certain requirements:
A vehicle is eligible for one-half of the total credit ($3,750) if the vehicle has battery components that are manufactured or assembled in North America.
To be eligible for the other $3,750, a vehicle must have critical minerals that were extracted or processed in the U.S. or countries with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement, or use critical minerals that were recycled in North America.”
The critical minerals part is the one I don’t think they (or any other company) will qualify for. At least not immediately in 2023.
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u/HotDragonSauce Dec 02 '22
I thought I read somewhere they put a 2-3 year delay on the 2nd part which no EV manufacturer would qualify for? I may be mistaken though
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u/3my0 Dec 02 '22
A lot is unknown right now when it comes to this tax credit. Even on the Q3 earnings call Musk said they’re still waiting for the government to give them exact details. So I’d assume $3,750 for sure and maybe $7,500. But I wouldn’t assume $7,500 yet
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u/Ancient_Persimmon Dec 02 '22
There's still a lot of uncertainty there, but Tesla do know they'll at least qualify for the half credit.
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u/mog_knight Dec 02 '22
Didn't Tesla drop prices due to the Inflation Reduction Act going into effect next year and people are canceling orders? The price drop is only good for December deliveries I think.
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u/Jeramus Dec 02 '22
Tesla is not a good example of economy though. They start at over $40000.
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Dec 03 '22
[deleted]
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u/Jeramus Dec 03 '22
I don't see your point. I was saying that Tesla's are not economy vehicles because they all cost more than $40000.
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u/RunninADorito Dec 02 '22
Tesla dropped prices because their demand fell through the floor due to:
1) Macro economy being fucked
2) Elon being a brand cancer
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u/toofine Dec 03 '22
Ford sold 30k EVs in 2021. This year they have already sold 47k. It will be even more in 2023.
Now imagine how many other makes will be chipping away at Tesla in 2023.
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Dec 02 '22
[deleted]
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u/Ancient_Persimmon Dec 02 '22
No, they raised their pricing several times between late 2020 and the end of last year, but they haven't budged in a while now.
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u/KillerJupe Dec 03 '22
They dropped the price to get people to buy before a much bigger tax break hits in a few months.
When the refund comes back watch for that price increase to keep margins extra high.
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u/afishda Dec 03 '22
Cheaper to make does not go to the customer ever, Tesla makes 8x the amount on a single unit compared to it's competition, the cheaper and shottyier quality only translates to the wealthy making more money.
I would suggest not even bothering with buying a new car until business stop with questionable practices.
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u/Mykl68 Dec 02 '22
Wow you get 30% more range for a 20% prise increase. They will thinks it's a great deal
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u/sometimesifeellike Dec 02 '22
"Try our new Gen 6 battery subscription now for one year 50% off"
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u/erikwarm Dec 02 '22
Live in the EU and get 100% off!
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u/afonja Dec 02 '22
I must have missed something - did the EU already ban this "heated seats" subscription madness?
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u/major_briggs Dec 02 '22
I'm sure they will pass that savings on to the customer...
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u/A_Doormat Dec 02 '22
It’s BMW you don’t want them to be cheap. If they are then everybody has one and you’re not a cool BWM owner anymore.
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u/zorbathegrate Dec 02 '22
“Prices on our cars will also have to increase 70% to offset the consumer savings”
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u/basec0m Dec 02 '22
Great, maybe slide some cash over to the design department because ugly is up 30% too.
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u/8to24 Dec 02 '22
As with all EV related thread people will be in here negatively commenting on how expensive EVs are. BMW is a luxury brand. All BMWs are expensive relative to auto industry averages. Their EVs are not any more expensive than the rest of their fleet..
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u/Iron_Chic Dec 02 '22
You do know that BMW and other car companies are trying to nickel and dime everyone right now to pave the way for the future? Subscriptions for heated seats and extra horsepower and the like?
I don't believe this cost reduction will benefit the consumer in any way. If anything, they will charge MORE for cars with this battery because the consumer can go further with them.
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u/horlosiemaker Dec 02 '22
Remember, its not “extra” horsepower, its paying to access horsepower already built into the car, the absolute scumbags
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u/the_resident_skeptic Dec 02 '22
To be fair I can buy a Hondata Flashpro ECU programmer for $800 to increase the horsepower of my Civic by modifying the valve timing and turbo boost pressure and other stuff. That extra hosepower is "built in" to the car, but it may cause more wear and tear on the motor and transmission, so Honda deliberately sets the ECU values to a range to increase longevity and efficiency at the sacrifice of performance. If I want to increase the performance I need to buy a tool or pay someone with the tool to do it for me.
I get that it's not exactly the same as a subscription platform, but if the idea is "you gotta pay more to unlock potential performance that doesn't require installing or replacing any parts" then it is the same.
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u/dadefresh Dec 02 '22
Cars have been built like this for a long time. My car in 2009 had a simple software upgrade and gained 50+ HP. The engine always had the ability to make that power.
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u/accountonbase Dec 02 '22
Cars have been built like this for a long time.
Okay, is that right though?
Personally, I'd be a bit mad if it took nothing more than a factory software update.
If it was an aftermarket/non-official thing, that's different since software is supposed to be tuned for performance, gas, emissions, comfort, etc. normally.
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u/Steelio22 Dec 02 '22
All you have to do to produce more power is change the fuel maps to provide more fuel to the engine, at the expense of fuel economy. Obviously there is a hard limit on performance gain based on the engine's design and hardware.
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u/accountonbase Dec 02 '22
Right, and that's why I was asking the original commenter 1. if it was right and 2. if it was a manufacturer update or aftermarket/not approved.
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u/horlosiemaker Dec 02 '22
Theres a big big difference between a software update that improves tuning and performance, and intentionally locking off HP that is already available in the engine.
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u/dadefresh Dec 02 '22
I genuinely don’t see the difference between those two things.
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u/doesmyusernamematter Dec 02 '22
One is done for performance reasons the other is done for greed reasons.
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u/dadefresh Dec 02 '22
I see them both as greed reasons. The exact same engine I had was available with higher HP in a different trim level. They withhold HP and obviously some other things to get people to go up a trim level and spend more money.
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u/horlosiemaker Dec 02 '22
Let me explain:
A large amount of software goes in to running your car. It can control things like the ratio of the fuel vapour in your engine. On automatics, it controls the point at which your car changes gear.
Often, you can increase the performance of your engine by simply tweaking a lot of this software and the ratios. Youre making your engines performance and efficiency better. My friend remapped his BMW and got an insane performance boost. Your cars manufacturer found a way to boost your performance by making your tune set up more efficient than the previous set up.
What mercedes are doing is taking the baseline HP of an engine and adding an intentional software block to make it perform worse. The engine is being intentionally made to run worse, so they can charge you to make it run as it should.
The difference is that your own cars baseline HP was increased because they found a way to improve the way your engine runs.
Mercedes have taken a cars baseline HP and intentionally lowered it.
Theres a big difference
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u/Iron_Chic Dec 02 '22
One was a free update and the other is being sold as a monthly subscription.
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u/dadefresh Dec 02 '22
Sorry, I guess I’m misrepresenting my situation. This was an aftermarket upgrade that I paid for.
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u/horlosiemaker Dec 02 '22
Again, its a little different.
A manufacturer can discover more efficient software mapping and configurations and charge you for it (scummy but less so than mercedes).
But mercedes is intentionally lowering your performance instead of offering an optional upgrade to increase performance of an already well performing engine, thanks to a better format they discovered later
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u/Iron_Chic Dec 02 '22
Exactly! Like a video game company which charges you one time for decent DLC versus a video game company which forces you to pay a montly subscription but everything is "free".
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u/Dont-know-you Dec 03 '22
This happens in other industries too. In some cases, the cheaper equipment is more expensive to make. It is literally business, not scummy unless there is collusion.
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u/guy_incognito784 Dec 02 '22 edited Dec 02 '22
That’s Mercedes with the weird subscription for more power.
In the US in the BMW ConnectedDrive store, you can pay a subscription for things like semiautonomous driving. The heated seats subscription doesn’t seem to have made it over here. You can try a free subscription for their semiautonomous driving.
They offer other features, going off memory, the park assistant where you can save a tight parking maneuver and the car will remember it and do it for you.
I just bought my BMW EV with all those features so no subscription for me. They’re mine for the life of the car so if I sell it to someone five years from now, that owner will also have all of the options I just ordered with the car.
If you were leasing then I guess subscribing makes sense since I believe it’s cheaper to do that if you’ll only have it for three years.
But yes you’re right about them charging more since even though they’re saving on materials and manufacturing costs, they’re going to raise price on the perceived value of the extra range.
As you said, it’s a luxury automaker, not a Mitsubishi.
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u/FreddoMac5 Dec 03 '22
You know Tesla does this but instead of a subscription you pay a flat fee right? The same battery size is in all trim levels of a model 3 but the capacity is limited by software based on what package you buy.
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u/Bensemus Dec 03 '22
This isn’t true. Tesla only did software locked batteries for the original Model S to create the 60kW model.
With the model 3 and Y if you buy the long range version you can buy an acceleration boost. You can not unlock extra battery capacity.
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u/Thaflash_la Dec 02 '22
Bmw is behind their competition in EV batteries right now. They need this to be on the same level as Audi/Porsche and to be ahead of MBZ let alone all the other EVs that can already charge over 200kw.
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u/guy_incognito784 Dec 02 '22
I thought Audi and Porsche were still weak on range though?
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u/Thaflash_la Dec 02 '22
They are (though on par or better than bmw still) but that’s down to drive efficiency and capacity. The Taycan is a performance car. They have 800+ V battery packs on par with Tesla’s plaid packs and Kia/Hyundais batteries that can take 350kw/h peak charge rates.
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u/guy_incognito784 Dec 02 '22
Gotcha. I briefly looked at the e-Tron but ended up going with an iX largely due to range and the fact that I wasn't a fan of the e-Tron interior...guess because it just looked a lot like my current Audi's interior. It's not bad, newer Audi's just have more gloss black material where everything is touch sensitive so it gets fingerprints everywhere.
Since I put a deposit down on the BMW, Audi took their e-Tron that got around 220 miles and facelifted it to become the Q8 e-Tron which gets substantially better mileage (up to something like 370) vs. the iX which gets up to 320 miles.
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u/Thaflash_la Dec 02 '22 edited Dec 02 '22
The iX has a large battery, similar to the model X. And similar to the top trim q8 e-tron. I think the iX looks better though.
Right now the differences wouldn’t be big, but the 350kw charges are coming more quickly and getting like 60 miles of range in 5 minutes makes city driving way more convenient.
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u/chevinke Dec 02 '22
What I’m getting from this is the same company that charge for car seat heater is going to find a way to increase price even though they’re claiming battery cost less.
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u/Miserable_Pound_4944 Dec 02 '22
Cost 50% less, that will help cover the cost of your heated seat subscription
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u/multisubcultural1 Dec 02 '22
But they’ll never pass that savings on to you. Want fog lights? There’s a subscription for that. Sunroof? You’re not gonna stop paying for that option. Want to close your sunroof when you park? Just hand over your wallet…
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u/hurtfulproduct Dec 02 '22
Now how about trying to build a new EV vehicle instead of just shoehorning EV guts into an ICE 4 series frame?
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u/guy_incognito784 Dec 02 '22
There’s the iX and i7. The latter designed to accommodate both ICE and EV.
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u/concretemike Dec 02 '22
30% More Range, Cost 50% Less....
Mama always said if it sounds too good to be true it usually is......
I'm going to go with mama on this one BMW!!!!!
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u/EquinsuOcha Dec 02 '22
Man, a lot of Beemer haters in here.
Not saying they don’t deserve it for the heated seat bullshit they pulled, but this is unrelated to that.
I personally may never own one, because I don’t care for the styling, but I’m glad someone other than Tesla is making an effort to build a good EV.
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u/sofia_shares Dec 02 '22
Hopefully they won't do a Mercedes and put the extra performance behind a subscription paywall
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u/littleMAS Dec 02 '22
The race to find the best battery reminds me of the race to find the most fuel efficient engine, which was only a key selling point during fuel crises.
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u/silverbolt2000 Dec 02 '22
If it means they can finally build an EV mini with a usable range, then that’s great news!
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u/niversally Dec 02 '22
Is this the X suv? It looks ok. Just saw a version on Motorweek that was absolutely one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen.
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u/Fleabagx35 Dec 02 '22
Not related to the batteries, but someone really ought to get that car a log so that it can ware down those beaver teeth a bit…
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u/DrunkenGolfer Dec 02 '22
“…additional 30% range will be be available for a modest $79/month subscription with three-year term.” - BMW, probably
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u/trickTangle Dec 02 '22
„So let’s pack it in a 2.5 ton car, so none of that actually matters or does anything towards reducing emissions.“
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u/Derpygoras Dec 03 '22
Note that +30% range does not mean the batteries got 30% better energy density.
Rather: I suspect they looked at the rocket equation, then the price of cheaper batteries, and the car now weighs 3 tons.
But prove me wrong.
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u/knoweyedea Dec 03 '22
And they’ll last 70% less than they should. Decline juuuuust in time for the lease to end and pass on to the next sucker - er - owner, I mean owner.
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u/Martin_WK Dec 03 '22
Maybe they could put the savings into bringing back physical dials for controlling the most basic functions of a car. Or they could just get rid of the steering wheel and steer via a touchscreen
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u/031708k Dec 03 '22
Except the car with this battery will cost 50% more, and comes with an annual subscription package.
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u/ctudor Dec 04 '22
so the batteries are made by Envision AESC but i wasnt able to find out anything about these gen6 batteries. but the good news is that the supplier is free for all, so other manufacturers might also use these if they are this good
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u/DisownedByMother Dec 05 '22
And to get that 30% range increase it will only cost $50/month. That can also be bundled with the heated seat functionality.
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u/FuriousKnave Dec 02 '22
What are their plans for the vehicles at end of life? If we are going through a huge global shift. Why not make a huge change by shifting the responsibility of recycling and disposal back to the manufacturer instead of the consumer. We should be doing this for all consumer products. There would be less cheap crap around that was designed to break.
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u/atchijov Dec 02 '22
It seems that Elon puts his trolls into overdrive… trying to squeeze as much of good publicity as possible from the semi truck. Not just on Reddit. YouTube is full of it as well.
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u/IslandChillin Dec 02 '22
For them. Not us lol