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BMW has quietly deployed a prototype i7 around Munich fitted with large-format all-solid-state battery cells supplied by Colorado-based specialist Solid Power. By slotting the experimental pack into an otherwise standard luxury saloon, engineers can assess real-world behaviour while drivers still enjoy the limousine calm that defines the i7.
Solid-state chemistry dispenses with liquid electrolyte, replacing it with a sulphide-based solid that tolerates tighter cell stacking and higher operating pressure. The reward is markedly greater energy density, so the same footprint can store more charge without a weight penalty. BMW hopes this will translate into longer legs on motorway runs and quicker charging when the car pauses for electrons.
The test pack mirrors the brand’s fifth-generation layout—prismatic cells grouped into modules—yet adds new hardware to manage pressure, expansion and temperature across the pack. Engineers are monitoring how the cells breathe under hard acceleration and repeated fast-charge cycles, data that will shape future production designs.
This road trial caps nearly a decade of collaboration: BMW first invested in Solid Power in 2016 and will soon commission a pilot cell line at its Cell Manufacturing Competence Centre in Parsdorf. Together with a network of universities, start-ups and established suppliers, the marque is intent on advancing every promising battery chemistry rather than betting on a single solution.
If the programme meets its targets, an all-solid-state BMW could reach showrooms before the decade ends, pairing the marque’s trademark driving refinement with the sort of range figures once thought the preserve of far larger packs. For now, the discreet i7 prototype is paving the way—quietly gathering the data that may power the next leap in electric mobility.
