The BMW Group will pursue a slew of breakthrough technologies, concepts and strategies to take it to the next level of its sustainability goals.
Using the i Vision Circular concept car as a springboard, BMW plans to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% per car by 2030 in its production process.
It will be a multi-faceted approach, called 360 Sustainability, which looks to lower the carbon footprint from the car’s development, supply chain, production, electrification, social responsibility, and “Circularity”.
For its sixth-generation battery cells, suppliers will use cobalt, lithium, and nickel that include the use of secondary materials from recycled raw materials, instead of being freshly mined.
BMW’s long-term goal is to fully recycle battery cells. These batteries will be in a cylindrical shape with round cells and supposedly deliver up to 30% better range and 20% faster charging than the current industry standard rectangular cells.
A technical cutaway of the BMW CE 04 electric scooter.
The icing on the cake is a reduction of CO2 emissions in battery cell production, and 50% lower manufacturing costs compared to the current fifth-generation power source.
Batteries aside, the interior and plastic exterior parts are being made from new recycling processes, increasing the use of natural fibres and replacing animal-sourced leather with recycled materials.
These changes reduce CO2 emissions by about 85%. That said, the faux leather looks and feels like the real McCoy. Naturally, the goal is to manufacture these parts without CO2 emissions as far as possible.
The most interesting of the recycling processes are the use of 30% plastics made from recycled fishing nets obtained from buying to-be-discarded nets from fishermen from all corners of the world. This reduces sea pollution while also helping lessen the deaths of sea creatures who could be trapped in disused nets.
BMW Group plans to launch BMW and MINI models with completely vegan interiors by 2023.
i Vision Circular concept car.
