Other German automakers are following right along. To make sure that it wasn't left out, archrival Volkswagen, maker of Audi, has bought a 9.9% stake in the SGL venture. Mercedes-Benz is jumping into the carbon fiber pool as well. It is building its own manufacturing facility in Germany in cooperation with a Japanese company. Mercedes has a goal of reducing vehicle structure weight by 10% with each succeeding generation, according to Bloomberg.
All three companies have some catching up to do. Tiny McLaren, based in the U.K., plans to use a carbon fiber chassis as the basis for 1,000 MP4-12C sports cars it plans to build this year. Base price: $231,400.
BMW is using carbon fiber in two futuristic cars it is introducing in 2013. A new process, operated mostly by robots, can turn out parts in a matter of minutes using injection molding. The automaker's models range from Mini Coopers to Rolls-Royces, but neither new car is anything like what it has built previously.
The i3, which carries four passengers, will be powered by either an electric or gasoline engine, and will weigh just 2,700 pounds -- about 20% less than a Nissan Leaf. BMW plans to make 30,000 i3s a year, Automotive News reports, for use in urban areas The i8, with both gas and electric motors, will be faster than a Ferrari and still be capable of 20 miles per electric charge, or 50 miles per gallon of gas.
Neither auto will be cheap. Bill Howard of ExtremeTech estimates the i3 will go for $50,000, and BMW has priced the i8 at around $170,000. By comparison, the Chevy Volt goes for $43,000, while the Tesla roadster sells for $109,000.
Says BMW's Reithofer, "Carbon fibers are a key construction material for the automotive industry of the 21st century and will change the way we develop and build cars."
What he didn't mention is the key advantage they have over other gas-saving technologies: They are here today -- not off in some gauzy future like solar power, natural gas, or hydrogen-based fuel cells.
