There is a European manufacturer that outperforms Chinese ones in battery supply
Rimac Technology promises a production line for BMW even before a contract exists. Mate Rimac, the company’s founder from Croatia, points to the frameworks being built at the new facility near Zagreb and assures that this production line would have been established regardless of whether an agreement was signed or not.
This gamble paid off. Today, Rimac Technology produces 48,000 battery systems per year for the BMW i7, outperforming both Chinese suppliers and much larger industrial groups in terms of technology and price. “To win that contract, we had to be better than everyone else in the market, both technically and commercially,” Rimac told Automotive News Europe, as reported by Douglas A. Bolduc.
How Rimac won over BMW in the battery race
Chinese manufacturers control over 70% of the global automotive battery market today, according to data from SNE Research cited by the source. In this area, Rimac Technology had to prove that a Croatian company born out of electric hypercars could compete on industrial quality and costs.
Photo Gallery: Rimac Batteries for BMW i7
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Source: BMW
BMW does not make an immediate decision. The supply process goes through the typical stages of prototype development and supplier evaluation that automakers use before assigning a final contract.
However, Rimac includes a preliminary layout for the BMW production line in the plan for the new factory even before signing the contract. This is a financial risk that, according to the founder, “gave them confidence” regarding delivery times.
The facility allocates 15,000 square meters to the BMW program within a total plant area of 90,000 square meters. About 70% of the capacity is dedicated to battery systems for multiple programs from various manufacturers.
The i7 Program and the Zagreb Factory
The new BMW i7, unveiled on April 22, 2026, at the Beijing auto show, is the brand’s first production model to feature a system developed in collaboration with Rimac Technology. This architecture combines BMW’s sixth-generation cylindrical cells with the fifth-generation modules designed by the Croatian supplier. The energy density of these cells is 20% higher than that of previous prismatic cells.
BMW i7 (2026)
Photo by: BMW
The high-voltage battery is produced on Rimac’s facilities in Croatia and arrives ready for assembly at the BMW plant in Dingolfing. Rimac also hinted that “there are two more vehicles in development” with BMW, without providing further details on the models involved or launch timelines.
The strategy beyond automotive
Rimac Technology already supplies batteries and electric drive systems to Porsche for the 1.9 kWh, 400-volt pack in the 911 GTS T-Hybrid, as well as to the Saudi startup Ceer. The company currently has contracts worth 5 billion euros. However, Rimac does not intend to turn itself into a general supplier of all automotive components.
The company is expanding its technology beyond the automotive industry. On October 7, it signed a Joint Development Agreement with Ecoblox to co-develop modular data centers for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, with the aim of integrating the UNI battery modules and power electronics developed for automotive applications into the Emirati company’s platforms.
About BMW and Rimac