BMW has kicked off production of the all-electric i3 sedan in Germany, and the significance runs beyond the car itself. The i3 is shaping up as a legitimate rival to the Tesla Model 3, but the bigger story sits with the factory itself. From next year, BMW’s Munich plant will build nothing but EVs, ending decades of combustion-car history at the site where the company has produced vehicles since the 1950s.

 

Getting there took a substantial rework of the facility. BMW added a new body shop to support production of the i3 and the Neue Klasse models that follow it, along with fresh vehicle assembly and logistics areas and a new delivery hall. The company credits those changes, plus new production technologies and tighter cooperation between departments and suppliers, with cutting manufacturing costs at the plant by 10 percent.