First news from BMW future carbon-fibre electric car, the Megacity Vehicle, which will launch what the carmaker calls the first “volume-produced vehicle” with a passenger cell made from the composite. Instead of other car companies BMW has pledged to create a new concept in vehicle architecture and body construction for mass-production cars.
BMW maintains that lithium-ion batteries weight for electric vehicles must be offset with lighter materials and a redesigned structure for the car itself, a system it is calling the “LifeDrive” architecture. During a 2 July BMW showed its first rough sketch of the Megacity — set to debut in 2013 — and displayed more details about its carbon-fibre future.
From Klaus Draeger words: “Our … architecture is helping us to open a new chapter in the automotive lightweight design,… This concept allows us to practically offset the extra weight typically found in electrically powered vehicles.”
The carbon-fibre passenger cell will sit on top of the lightweight car frame holding the batteries, motor-drive place and crash-structural system. In addition to the lighter weight, the carmaker opens more potential for different body-style designs.
BMW already has carbon-fibre modules, using its own proprietary molding system at its Landshut, Germany, assembly plant to make BMW 3 series (M3 version) cars roofs.