Deutsche Welle, 17 Sep 2013
BMW expects
its new i3 car to accelerate electric mobility. The car goes into production
this week. It's got an innovative carbon fiber body, making it lightweight. But
the material is expensive.
"The
revolution has begun," announced BMW's director of development, Herbert
Diess, at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt. Surrounded by video
screens, he presented the star of his presentation: BMW's new electric i3 car.
What's
truly revolutionary about the car is its body: rather than being made of heavy
metal, it's made of light-weight carbon fiber.
BMW says
shifting to carbon fiber will counteract the extra weight of the battery. It's
heavy but will allow for an extended range when fully charged. The development
also aims catapults this expensive material - which so far has only been used
in the aeronautics industry and Forumla 1 car racing - from the luxury sector
to the mass market.
And to get
there, BMW has entered a joint venture with specialists, SGL Carbon.
Carbon
rather than nuclear waste
In the
1980s, the industrial grounds at Wackersdorf, Bavaria, were the scene of
protests by local residents, who were opposed to a planned nuclear waste
reprocessing plant.
Today, the
site is being used to process the fiber of the future.
It's here
that large machines will process kilometers upon kilometers of black carbon
fiber bundles, which have been delivered from the United States.
Wackersdorf
is one of two sites run by SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers - the joint venture,
comprising BMW and SGL Carbon. Its second factory is at Moses Lake, in the US
state of Washington.
"We
process carbon-fiber spools into sheets," says Katharina Schraidt.
"You can think of them as wide mats - like carpets."
 |
| Carbon-fibers are woven into mats and rolled onto spools |
Indeed, what the machines reel up look like large rolls of carpet found in a home improvement store. These are the raw materials that form the basis of the parts for the new i3.
Expensive
material for mass production
It's hoped
the joint venture will give BMW the decisive edge when it comes to carbon-based
materials of the future. But not without investment.
"Carbon
is very expensive," Schraidt says. "No company has manufactured
carbon for the mass market up to now."
So far,
parts have only ever been processed by hand, piece-by-piece.
"That's
not an option for us," says Schraidt. "We want to produce the i3 for
the mass market."
BMW and SGL
Carbon have been trying to make carbon parts affordable for years - and that's
the thing about these machines at Wackersdorf.
The company
has had over 100 employees working to produce the carbon mats since the end of
July - with BMW focusing on the innovative material for its i3 electric car.
BMW is
convinced that carbon possesses ideal properties.
"It's
very sturdy, but it's much lighter than steel and aluminum," Schraidt
points out.
The lighter
the car, the longer the range.
"The
greater the range, the more attractive the car."
 |
| Sporty, chic and futuristic: the i3 tanks up |
The
carbon-fiber mats are shaped into car body parts at a BMW plant at Landshut
before being shipped to Leipzig, where the i3 is being assembled. Other
components for the new electric car are being manufactured at BMW's largest
plant in Dingolfing.
A true
e-car
The car
industry has been looking to the i3 with great anticipation - the move is being
taken as the sign of a major carmaker placing its bets firmly on e-mobility.
"Of
course we're sending a clear signal in the market," says Walter Huber, BMW
spokesperson for the plants in Wackersdorf and Regensburg. "But it's a
courageous step that we're very confident about."
BMW says it
is not interested in simply rehauling a current model and turning it into an
electric one. Huber says the i3 has been conceived as an electric car from the
scratch - and not only the car body.
The i3 can
be recharged via any electric socket and has a range of up to 150 kilometers
(93 miles). Those eager to get behind the wheel, will not have to wait long:
it's due on the road later this autumn.
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