Read this article online |
short.compositesworld.com/BMWLeipzig
Read more about BMW's process for
"Molding i3 body panels" online | short.
compositesworld.com/BMWi3body.
Read about the SGL/BMW Moses Lake,
Wash., carbon fber production facility in "SGL
Automotive Carbon Fibers plant's two fber
lines in production" | short.compositesworld.
com/6u9fjkUc.
Read more about recent carbon fber
autocomposites ventures and automotive
market implications in the following:
"Auto composites quest: One-minute cycle
time?" |
CT August 2012 (p. 24) | short.
compositesworld.com/G651LhR0.
"The markets: Automotive (2014)" | short.
compositesworld.com/SBAuto2014.
"Automotive CFRP: The shape of things to
come" | CT December 2013 p. 30) |
short.compositesworld.com/8MhEyKb3.
compositesworld.com
and attached with adhesive and 10 screws. Following this, the ve-
hicle's interior is pieced together, including seats, dashboard and
dashboard components. Lighting systems for the headlamps and
taillamps are added, as are fenders, motor and hood.
Despite speculation in the automotive press that BMW has
been unable to meet i3 production rates, BMW ofcials in Leipzig
told CT as the June issue went to press that the rate was up to 100
vehicles per day (approaching 36,500 per annum) — on par with
expectations. Further, said one ofcial, "that number is always
growing."
Adjacent to the i3 vehicle assembly line, BMW will soon begin
assembly of the i8, the second in what
auto bloggers believe will be a number
of BMWs that will eventually bear the i
prefx. Like the i3, the i8 also features a
Life Module. And it, too, is a carbon f-
ber composite assembly, but one that is,
according to one BMW engineer, "more
complex."
Complexity seems to be a key descrip-
tor when it comes to molding carbon f-
ber parts for a series electric vehicle (EV).
Yet BMW appears to have managed the
i3 Life Module's progress from carbon
fber precursor to its place as the carbon
fber passenger protection cell on this
premier EV with relative ease. Drawing
on a wealth of experience, a secure supply
pipeline and strong support from mate-
rial and machinery suppliers throughout
Editor-in-Chief
Jef Sloan, CT's editor-in-chief, has been
engaged in plastics- and composites-industry
journalism for 20 years.
jef@compositesworld.com
the composites industry, the company promised a comfortable,
well-designed, lightweight, efcient car. Now, it's delivered. Tat has
silenced doubters and positioned BMW in the lead as the automo-
tive industry begins its conversion to composites. |
CT |
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