However you feel about electric motorcycles, they’re never going to be the next big thing until somebody comes up with a better battery – smaller, lighter, more powerful and quickly rechargeable. BMW is down with all of that, and just opened a 200-million-Euro battery research facility in Munich to prove it.

The BMW Group Battery Cell Competence Center “aims to advance battery cell technology and introduce it into production processes.” BMW says it will invest a total of 200 million Euros in the location over the next four years, creating 200 jobs, and that the center will open in early 2019. Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony November 24, Klaus Fröhlich said: “International experts working in the new development labs and facilities will conduct important research to refine cell chemistry and cell design. We will focus on further improvements in battery performance, lifespan, safety, charging and also costs. We will set the benchmark for the industry.”

The Press Release goes on to say:

In the labs, research and prototyping facilities, which will make up the battery cell competence centre, specialist departments will analyse cell design and cell technology. They will also create prototypes of future battery cells, focusing on the chemical composition of the cells, use of different materials, how the cell behaves in critical or extremely cold conditions, charging and rapid-charging behaviour and evaluating cell sizes and forms. This in-house technological expertise is key to enhancing the battery, thereby enabling higher performance capabilities.

BMW is already doing well with its electric cars:

Between January and the end of October, the BMW Group delivered a total of 78,096 BMW i, BMW iPerformance and electrified MINI vehicles to customers worldwide – an increase of 63.7% on the previous year. With nine electrified cars currently available, the BMW Group is one of the leading manufacturers worldwide. The company is well on track to sell 100,000 electrified vehicles worldwide by the end of the year.

Those are the salient points, but you can read the entire BMW release here.