Download

BMW's new carbon fiber factory in the United States has brought advanced, lightweight materials developed in Formula One racing one step closer to consumers' driveways. The German carmaker opened the ultra-modern production plant in Moses Lake, Washington state, on Thursday to supply carbon fiber for its highly anticipated, all-electric i3 Concept car. Built through a 2009 joint venture with materials specialist SGL Carbon, the $100 million (70 million euro) facility is powered entirely by locally generated hydroelecricity. It will produce up to 3,000 metric tons of carbon fiber annually. "The facility has been erected in only 10 months and will be the most cost efficient carbon fiber plant using modern technologies," said Andreas Wüllner, Managing Director of SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers. The fibers produced in Moses Lake will be woven into lightweight fabrics at a second joint venture site in Wackersdorf, Germany, before being formed into carbon fiber reinforced pla...

BMW are vying to find enough wunderkinder to make their electric vehicles. An aging workforce and declining enrollment in technical studies caused the shortfall of available engineers in their home country to rise to an all-time high of about 77,000 last month, according to the VDI German engineering association. BMW aims to hire 800 people at its factory in Leipzig, as part of an expansion for the production of the i3 electric city car and the i8 hybrid super car. "Until about two years ago, we had hardly heard of companies in the region struggling to find skilled staff," Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung said. The shortage may threaten the competitiveness of BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG as they expand with electric vehicles. A third of Germany's large companies now consider the skilled-worker shortage as a business risk.