Below is a video look into BMW's carbon fiber reinforced plastic manufacturing process at the
SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers plants, with which BMW has a joint venture, and at BMW's Landshut plant.
BMW has ambitions (
see our recent discussions) to reduce the weight of its future vehicles by the incorporation of more carbon fiber (CFRP) into its automobile's materials. As one recent article stated - it is out to create a new infrastructure for carbon-fiber auto manufacturing covering everything from the material to the final product, and in the process open the door for wider use of the material. The company's goal is to bring down the cost of carbon fiber to be competitive with aluminum, making it a viable and common material for widespread use in its cars.
The first big showcase model for this will be the BMW i3 electric vehicle and i8 hybrid electric sports car, which will both utilize plenty of carbon fiber.
BMW's current carbon fiber production chain starts off with sourcing raw material in Otake, Japan, to carbon fiber manufacturing in Moses Lake, Washington, to final material preparation at SGL.
The following videos features the CFRP process at SGL and BMW's Landshut plant in Germany. Listen for the narrations at particular parts in the videos.