According to leaked information, about a dozen moulds for body parts were made by Italian companies in Milan and Varese. BMW i3: carbon fiber body. The CFRP resins or grinded or resized carbon can be reused in different applications, not necessarily in the automotive industry: for example, in the textile or electronic industry, to produce the casings of control units. A bearing structure of magnesium was, on the other hand, used for the instrument panel, with supports in kenaf fibre: not only does it weight 20 percent less than a conventional steel panel, it also reduces the number of components, and cuts weight by a further 10 percent. The mats are first heated, then preformed and assembled in larger structures and, lastly, overmoulded with resin before a clamping force of up to 4,500 tons is applied. Lightweight and passive safety cannot always coexist, but composite materials, thanks to their intrinsic rigidity, deliver a good compromise, thanks in part to the special design. If you want to buy a new carbon-fiber BMW, then don’t delay too long in realizing the dream; the i3 and i8 look set to be the last of the company’s products to feature carbon-fiber structures. In designing the Leipzig plant, BMW wanted to extend the concepts of sustainability that distinguish the new car: the plant consumes about 50 percent less energy and around 70 percent less water in comparison with current average figures for production. (Yes, BMW techs will use glue, but don't worry: much of the car is held together with the stuff in the first place.). We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. A special carbon milling tool has been developed. That means it will need to share a metal structure with its numerous platform buddies. There is still plenty of carbon componentry in BMW’s future, including body panels and even structural components. In the event of impact at a speed of 64 km/h – according to the German carmaker – the composite compartment maintains an intact survival space for passengers An additional level of safety is delivered by the aluminium crash structures in the front and rear of the Drive module, designed to absorb the force of the impact. It's the carbon Life Module that needs special treatment. Secondary (recycled) material therefore accounts for around 10 percent of the carbon fibre used in the production of BMW i3. © CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. The revolution of the electrical car could be underway in Germany, more precisely in Leipzig, the town selected by BMW as the site for one of the most modern vehicle production facilities. With the exception of the lithium ion battery, purchased from a specialist manufacturer, the entire development and production process is managed in-house. Our car experts choose every product we feature. The precursor material is used to make a polyacrylonitrile-based fibre, from which a thin fibre is obtained (7 microns, or 0.007 millimetres) composed almost exclusively of pure carbon with a stable graphite matrix.

The carbon structure, part of which is visible when the doors are opened, serves as an aesthetic connecting element between the interior and exterior, mainly made from thermoplastic materials.

Here's how BMW will fix it, Rescheduled 2020 New York Auto Show canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic, Kia Telluride named 2020 World Car of the Year, 2021 Honda Odyssey gets styling tweaks and more safety tech, 2020 New York Auto Show postponed due to coronavirus concerns. BMW Carbon-Poduktion. BMW gives us an inside look at why it won't be so bad. The semifinished parts are then processed into CFRP body parts before their final assembly.

As an additional weight-reducing measure, the BMW i3 is fitted with lightweight seats featuring extremely slim backrests. The double-platen injection presses of the duo range have clamping forces of between 2,700 and 4,000 tons, installed in tandem configuration back-to-back to ensure the correct cycle phasing (in master/slave mode), and produce simultaneously two body parts to be assembled successively. Considering production volumes, the German constructor has wanted to establish full control over the manufacturing process, starting from the carbon fibre. Other thermoplastic parts are used for the seats, interiors and body panels, further reducing the weight of the vehicle while ensuring greater range, pickup and performance, without compromising on safety. BMW Technical Training Manager Walter Malec shows the inner door structure of the BMW i3. It attaches to a vacuum to collect the carbon dust, giving a clean cut with no mess. The company is rightly proud of its expertise in producing carbon parts in relatively high volumes. The company was awarded the order after a trial and testing period lasting six months, during which different systems were compared in relation to their efficiency, energy saving, self-adaption and stable process conditions.

This model is innovative also for the massive use of carbon-fibre reinforced plastics previously experimented only on supercars, few models of which are made each year and sold at a high price. Facebook. The i3 was the first mass production car with most of its internal structure and body made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Some pieces are also produced in Leipzig, using the resin transfer moulding technique (RTM). This has raised many concerns about the viability of the material for use "regular" cars, with people fearing that the machines will be impossibly expensive to insure and maintain. Whenever you go above 10,000 cars a year, you would put them on the assembly line.”, Hummer Is Back with a 1000-HP Electric Pickup, Hummer EV Starts at $112K, Cheaper Models to Come, GMC's 2022 Hummer EV's Competitors Are Few, Once Notorious, the Hummer Brand Aims for Glory, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. The use of carbon fiber in the frame of the BMW i3 has many worried about high repair costs.

BMW will offer only the entire left or right side of the Life Cell, which will then be sliced and diced as needed. That's largely because, he reckons, the transition to carbon repair is actually a smaller shift than that from steel frames to aluminum, which BMW made over a decade ago. Crash your carbon-fiber i3 EV? The iNext—which is going to show BMW’s expertise in both electrification and high-level autonomy—will be based on the company’s new Fifth Generation architecture when it arrives in 2021. Twitter. Read more at Car and Driver. Das Gewicht der CFK-Fahrgastzelle liegt bei weniger als 150 kg, insgesamt kommt der i3 auf 1250 kg. It remains to be seen whether insurance companies will be required to pay for the entire portion, or if dealers will cut them up and sell the individual segments. The new BMW i3 will be available before the end of the year for a price that in Italy should be approximately 36,000 euro, rising to little short of 40,000 euro for the Range Extender version, the latter fitted with a small petrol engine which recharges the battery for longer distances. The process developed by BMW eliminates the post-moulding autoclave stage, making it faster and more cost-efficient.