The first mass production battery-powered electric vehicle from BMW, due to be launched in the US by 2012 will feature mass produced lightweight carbon-fiber reinforced panels, a first for the automotive industry.
BMW has joined forces with carbonfibre specialist SGL Group to produce lightweight parts for its new MegaCity electric vehicle.
MegaCity will take on Daimler's Smart division with a range of urban vehicles, in both two- and four-wheeled forms.
Two plants will be built in North America and Germany to manufacture carbonfibre parts which will be the first “large scale” manufacture of carbon fibre in the automotive industry.
"We will enter into a new dimension in the use of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics, both in terms of volume per car and in vehicle numbers," a BMW spokesman said.
The companies are said to be investing $500 Million in total.
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