Mexican Media Brands
BMW Venture to Triple Carbon Fiber Capacity
BMW AG and partner SGL Carbon SE will spend $200 million to triple annual capacity of their carbon fiber factory in Moses Lake, Wash., to 9,000 tons by 2015.
Share
BMW AG and partner SGL Carbon SE will spend $200 million to triple annual capacity of their carbon fiber factory in Moses Lake, Wash., to 9,000 tons by 2015.
The four-year-old plant supplies fibers used by BMW to produce plastic bodies for its i3 electric city car and upcoming i8 electric sport coupe. BMW says the additional capacity will reduce the cost of the fibers and enable the company to introduce lightweight carbon-fiber-reinforced components in more of its vehicle lineup.
The expansion will make the facility the world's largest source of carbon fibers and account for about one-fifth of global output of the material, according to the partners. The highly automated factory operates 24 hours per day.
The plant's energy-intensive production process is powered entirely by hydroelectricity.
RELATED CONTENT
-
On Electric Pickups, Flying Taxis, and Auto Industry Transformation
Ford goes for vertical integration, DENSO and Honeywell take to the skies, how suppliers feel about their customers, how vehicle customers feel about shopping, and insights from a software exec
-
On Fuel Cells, Battery Enclosures, and Lucid Air
A skateboard for fuel cells, building a better battery enclosure, what ADAS does, a big engine for boats, the curious case of lean production, what drivers think, and why Lucid is remarkable
-
On Automotive: An All Electric Edition
A look at electric vehicle-related developments, from new products to recycling old batteries.
