Head of the project Klaus Drechsler says they have reached the halfway point and “we’ll see a lot more carbon fiber use in the next generation of cars.” BMW’s head of development Herbert Diess announced that besides the i3 and i8, the next generation 7-Series could also employ carbon fiber. This could shave off as much as 200 kg (440 lbs). The research will continue until at least 2017.
“The key is to really drive automation” in production, Drechsler says. “There are different scenarios about how carmakers can use carbon fiber — extensively like BMW, with a carbon-fiber chassis, or with smaller components.”
