News

On 29 September 2025, Siemens Mobility and its partners celebrated the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony for a new production facility for battery systems for rail vehicles in Luhe-Wildenau. A state-of-the-art production facility is being built on a site covering around 20,000 square metres, where up to 200 employees will manufacture battery systems for Siemens regional trains, locomotives and external customers. A total of around €35 million is being invested in the project, including around €22 million from Siemens Mobility, of which €2.7 million comes from Bavarian subsidy programmes. The buildings are scheduled for completion in spring 2027, with series production starting in October 2027.

In future, complete battery systems, including an innovative battery management system (BMS), will be produced in Luhe-Wildenau. The BMS monitors and controls the battery, ensures safe operation and maximises efficiency and service life. The battery cells are sourced from external manufacturers, with system integration carried out by Siemens Mobility.

Siemens has commissioned the Chair of Electrical Energy Systems, headed by BayBatt Director Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Danzer, to conduct research and development for the project. The work packages include characterising the performance and service life of lithium-ion batteries for rail vehicles, thermoelectric module tests and the development of algorithms for determining the state of charge and ageing.

The central goal of the Bavarian Electric Mobility Strategy for Rail (BESS) is to make rail transport more climate-friendly. Given the current electrification of the rail network and the slow pace of expansion, especially in rural areas, alternatives to decarbonisation are urgently needed. At present, more than half of the local passenger rail lines in Bavaria still run on diesel. As part of the BESS, the Bavarian state government is focusing on the use of battery and hydrogen trains as well as battery locomotives in order to end traditional diesel operation in Bavarian regional transport by 2040. For routes with no prospect of electrification, there is no alternative to the use of battery and hydrogen trains in order to achieve these climate policy goals in a timely manner and counteract the effects of climate change.

Siemens Mobility plans to increase the depth of value creation in the key technology of ‘battery systems’ and to base it in Bavaria. This step will significantly strengthen the resilience of the German and European economies in this area and, at the same time, overcome today's dependence in the long term.

The press release from Siemens can be accessed here.