By Giulia Petroni

BMW AG said Tuesday that it signed a multi-year contract worth around 285 million euros ($335.6 million) with U.S.-based supplier Livent to source lithium for its battery-cell production.

The German luxury car maker said it is broadening its supplier base in view of its e-mobility expansion plans in the coming years, as it aims to have at least half of its global sales coming from fully electric vehicles by 2030.

"Lithium is one of the key raw materials for electromobility. By sourcing lithium from a second supplier, we are securing requirements for production of our current fifth generation of battery cells," it said.

Livent gets lithium from a brine source in northern Argentina. BMW already has a contract for procurement from hard-rock deposits at Australian mines that dates back to 2019, according to the car maker.

Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-30-21 0127ET