BMW is planning a rollout of the carbon-fibre technologies developed during the BMW i3 and i8 project, and the centerpiece is a set of ultra-light, fully carbon fibre rims.
It is the brainchild of BMW’s lightweight construction manager, Franz Storkenmaier. After developing a new system of industrializing carbon fibre for BMW’s i sub-brand, he has now been tasked for finding other uses for its patents. Among the things his team has found are a full carbon fibre steering wheel, a one-piece carbon fibre propeller shaft for the BMW X5 and a new carbon-plastic compound that is light and strong, made from i3 production waste.
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