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C T J U N E 2 0 1 4 3 Editor Composites Technology (ISSN 1083-4117) is published bimonthly (February, April, June, August, October & December) by Gardner Business Media, Inc. Corporate and production offces: 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244. Editorial offces: PO Box 992, Morrison, CO 80465. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, OH and additional mailing offces. Copyright © 2014 by Gardner Business Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2 Canada. Postmaster: Send address changes to Composites Technology , 6915 Valley Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45244-3029. If undeliverable, send Form 3579. Subscription rates: Nonqualifed $45 (USD) per year in the United States, $49 (USD) per year in Canada, $100 (USD) per year airmail for all other countries. Single issue prepaid, $10 (USD) per copy in North America, $25 (USD) in all other countries. Send payment directly to Composites Technology at Cincinnati offces, (800) 950-8020; fax: (513) 527-8801. MEMBERSHIPS: EDITORIAL OFFICES Publisher Richard G. Kline, Jr. / rkline2@gardnerweb.com Editor-in-Chief Jeff Sloan / jeff@compositesworld.com Managing Editor Mike Musselman / mike@compositesworld.com Technical Editor Sara Black / sara@compositesworld.com Senior Editor Lilli Sherman / lsherman@compositesworld.com Senior Editor Ginger Gardiner / ggardiner@compositesworld.com Graphic Designer Susan Kraus / skraus@gardnerweb.com Marketing Manager Kimberly A. 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Kline, Jr. | Group Publisher Tom Beard | Senior V.P., Content Steve Kline, Jr. | Director of Market Intelligence Ernest C. Brubaker | Treasurer William Caldwell | Advertising Manager Ross Jacobs | Circulation Director Jason Fisher | Director of Information Services Kate Hand | Senior Managing Editor Jeff Norgord | Creative Director Rhonda Weaver | Creative Department Manager Dave Necessary | Senior Marketing Manager Allison Kline Miller | Director of Events ALSO PUBLISHER OF • High-Performance Composites • Modern Machine Shop • IMTS Directory • NPE Offcial Show Directory • Moldmaking Technology • Production Machining • Products Finishing • Products Finishing Directory • Plastics Technology / PT Handbook • Automotive Design & Production It appears the electric vehicle culture is here, but there is a certain amount of déjà vu at work. Jef Sloan Where are they now? We frst heard about the vehicle now known as the BMW i3 in 2010 at the JEC show in Paris. Tere, we met for the frst time Andreas Wüllner and Jörg Pohlman, managing directors of the then new joint venture between SGL Group and BMW Group, called SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers (SGL ACF). Wüllner and Pohlman told us about a new all-electric passenger car BMW was developing, called the Megacity Vehicle. It would feature a passenger cell made entirely of carbon fber, which would be captively sourced from SGL ACF at a new plant to be built in Moses Lake, Wash. Te car, they said, would be a production vehicle and thus would represent the frst use of substantial amounts of carbon fber in a car osten- sibly targeted toward the everyday driver. Tat vehicle, which became the BMW i3, is on this month's cover, and on p. 24 you'll fnd the i3 plant tour we have long looked forward to. Now, the i3 is on the market in Europe and in the U.S., BMW is making 100 i3s a day and the sporty hybrid i8 — also featuring a carbon fber passenger cell — is due out later this year. So, it appears that the long-awaited elec- tric vehicle (EV) culture is here. Tere is, however, a certain amount of déjà vu. Te same year we met Wüllner and Pohlman, we published in CT a story about other up-and- coming electric vehicles that promised to use composites for lightweighting. We wrote about Myers Motors' two-seat Duo and one- seat NmG. We reported on Tesla's Model S EV and the two-seat Aptera 2 Series being developed by Aptera Motors. We told you about Fisker Automotive's hybrid-electric Karma. Where are they now? Te Tesla Model S lives on, but all of the others saw either limited or no life in production. Fisker, running out of money, entered bankruptcy in 2013 and was acquired by Wanxiang America Corp., which might or might not resume produc- tion of the Karma. Myers Motors is alive, but production of its EV depends on a crowd-funding campaign. Cash-strapped Aptera was forced to close its doors in late 2011, was subsequently bought by Chinese automaker Jonway and reactivated as Zaptera USA, which in turn created Aptera USA. Aptera USA has promised to produce the Aptera 2 Series, but as of mid-May, it was nowhere to be seen. Te bottom line here is, well ... the bottom line. Developing and manufac- turing cars is expensive, and not for the shallow of pockets. Te consumer market might be ready for smaller, nimbler, lighter, urban-friendly EVs, but meeting that demand takes investment on a scale that only companies like BMW and Tesla and Toyota can muster. Even the i3 is not a guaranteed success, yet, but it has the corporate muscle behind it to give it more than a fghting chance, and for that reason, we in the composites industry should be glad. 0614CT EditorLetter-OK.indd 3 5/20/2014 7:39:08 AM