BMW Group Plant Regensburg launches hydrogen-powered logistics fleet

+++ Use of hydrogen in intralogistics – components delivered to all production areas by hydrogen-powered tugger trains and forklift trucks +++ Gradual transition from electric to hydrogen propulsion by 2030 +++

Regensburg. BMW Group Plant Regensburg plans to utilise hydrogen for its production logistics going forward. Starting in 2026, hydrogen-powered tugger trains and forklift trucks will be deployed for all transport and logistics tasks. This includes operations in the press shop, body shop and assembly, ensuring that the necessary components and individual parts are delivered to the correct locations for installation.

The project aims to capitalise on the benefits of hydrogen propulsion. “The gradual transition from electric to hydrogen propulsion brings us another step closer to the BMW iFACTORY, our digital and sustainable factory of the future,” says Armin Ebner, head of BMW Group Plant Regensburg.

“Switching production logistics from electricity to hydrogen will diversify our plant’s energy mix – while optimising logistics processes and saving valuable space,” explains Project Manager Katharina Radtke. “The advantage of hydrogen is that refuelling is very fast – just like with conventional fuels. The filling stations required for this will be installed directly within the different production areas and do not take up much space.”

The entire logistics fleet at the Regensburg plant is currently being equipped with electric drive trains. The batteries used in the industrial trucks need to be changed twice per shift. Battery replacement, which is performed manually using a crane, takes about 15 minutes and requires space.

To ensure the wide-scale supply of hydrogen in the future, BMW Group plant Regensburg will install a two-kilometre-long pipeline network, with six decentralised filling stations, between now and early 2026. These stations will supply the logistics fleet in the various production areas with hydrogen, delivered in special trailers that can also be used for interim storage. “Once the conversion is completed, our annual hydrogen consumption will be around 150 tonnes,” says Radtke.

The logistics fleet at BMW Group Plant Regensburg currently comprises about 230 tugger train haulers and forklift trucks. The transition will be completed in stages by 2030.


BMW Group Corporate Communications

Christian Dürrschmidt, Communications Regensburg
Cell phone: +49 151 6060 5194
Email: Christian.Duerrschmidt@bmw.de

Saskia Graser, head of Communications Regensburg and Wackersdorf
Cell phone: +49 151 6060 2014
Email: Saskia.Graser@bmw.de

Media website: www.press.bmwgroup.com

Email: presse@bmw.de


BMW Group Plants Regensburg and Wackersdorf

The BMW Group has viewed itself for decades as the benchmark for production technology and operational excellence in vehicle construction – including at its locations in Regensburg and Wackersdorf. The BMW Group vehicle plant in Regensburg has been in operation since 1986 and is one of more than 30 BMW Group production locations worldwide. A total of up to 1,400 vehicles of the BMW X1 and BMW X2 models come off the production line at Plant Regensburg every workday – destined for customers all over the world. Different types of drive trains are flexibly manufactured on a single production line – from vehicles with internal combustion engines to plug-in hybrids, to fully-electric models.

High-voltage batteries for the electric models built in Regensburg are also produced locally, in direct proximity to the vehicle plant. They are assembled at the electric component production facility, which opened in 2021 at the Leibnizstrasse location.

BMW Innovation Park Wackersdorf also belongs to the Regensburg site. The 55-hectare campus built in the 1980s was originally intended as a nuclear reprocessing facility. The BMW Group has located its cockpit production there, as well as its parts supply for overseas plants. In addition to BMW as the largest employer, several other companies are also based at Innovation Park Wackersdorf. A total of around 2,500 employees work there.
The BMW Group core staff at the Regensburg and Wackersdorf locations in eastern Bavaria is made up of around 9,250 employees, including more than 300 apprentices.


www.bmwgroup-werke.com/regensburg/de.html