Episode 30: How to produce cost-effective electric vehicles, feat. BMW, Renault, & NavVis

Ride: The Urban Mobility Podcast

GUESTS: Philippe Brunet, Renault Group; Felix Reinshagen, NavVis; Dr Michael Kohnhäuser, BMW Group

ABOUT THIS EPISODE
This episode of Ride is brought to you in partnership with Reuters Events, and was recorded at Reuters Automotive Europe 2022 in Munich earlier this year. Ride was invited to moderate a discussion on producing cost-effective EVs, with a panel featuring:

• Dr Michael Kohnhäuser, Head of Innovation Management and Digitization Production Drive at BMW Group
• Philippe Brunet, Alliance SVP, Powertrain and EV Engineering at Groupe Renault
• Felix Reinshagen, CEO and Co-founder of NavVis

The cost of producing an EV is currently anywhere up to 50% more than an equivalent combustion engine vehicle (read more here and here). The battery alone can account for 30% to 50% of the value of the vehicle.

There are some costs which automakers cannot control, at least in the short to medium term. But what automakers can do is optimise their manufacturing processes, making them as cost-effective as possible. And that’s where the factory of the future and digital manufacturing techniques come into play, as well as more immediate solutions such as digital twin technology.

Groupe Renault has been working with Google since 2019 on digitizing its Industry 4.0 processes, using cloud and artificial intelligence to manage supply and demand throughout its supply chain, manufacturing, and logistics. And BMW Group has recently announced that all of its vehicle plants will be digitised using 3D laser scanning by early 2023, using scanning technology and software supplied by NavVis.

During the discussion, we talked about:

• How to achieve production cost parity between EVs and ICEs;
• How to reduce time to market;
• The role of the battery;
• And what cost effective means when it comes to producing EVs.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

• Philippe Brunet: Connect with Philippe Brunet on LinkedIn here
• Felix Reinshagen: Connect with Felix Reinshagen on LinkedIn here
• Michael Kohnhäuser: Connect with Michael Kohnhäuser on LinkedIn here

Thank you to Reuters Events for collaborating on this recording. Learn more about Reuters Events at reutersevents.com.

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