BMWs Will Be Made With Flax-Based Material
The renewable fiber, which lowers emissions, has been tested in race cars.
The material was developed by a Swiss company that BMW owns a stake in.
BMW
BMW says it’s developed a renewable vehicle material derived from flax in efforts to make its production more sustainable.
The fiber, created in collaboration with Swiss clean-technology company Bcomp, has been under development for several years, said BMW, which owns a stake in the partner through its venture capital arm.
The German automaker said the lightweight material, along with supporting even “stringent” roof structure requirements, will help it cut harmful emissions. Replacing carbon-fiber material with it for roofs of upcoming model years will bring about a 40% drop in production emissions, it said.
BMW said the technology is especially suitable for visible interior and exterior components. It’s already incorporated the material in its race cars to replace carbon-fiber plastic.
“Natural fiber is an innovation that perfectly exemplifies BMW M’s claim ‘Born on the racetrack. Made for the streets,’” said Franciscus van Meel, CEO of the BMW M subsidiary that makes high-performance luxury cars.
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