Ever since BMW announced that it will be releasing an full-electric car a couple of years ago, the world has been talking about it and the revolutionary features it will have.
Not only the technology available to the end-user is impressive about that car but the manufacturing process too, one that is focused around carbon fibre and a material derived from it, Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic.
Lately, there’s been a lot of talk going around about CFRP and not everyone is still convinced that this is the best alternative and material to use, in order to make cars lighter.
Their main concerns were focused on how it would handle impacts and how protected the passengers of cars using it would be in case of an emergency. For the i3, BMW uses the lightweight material to far greater extents than anyone expected.
Actually, the whole body of the car is made out of it and aluminum, in order to keep the weight as low as possible as it has to carry around a lot of batteries to keep the 170 HP electric motor running for up to 100 miles (160 km) on a full charge.
The process of making CFRP was actually drastically improved by BMW and its American partner, SGL Carbon driving costs down and reducing the time needed to manufacture it. You can watch the whole thing in the video below actually. Check it out!
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