Keeping up with the changes in today’s technology while trying to keep people happy and maximize profits; all three are what BMW hopes to do with changing to using carbon fiber instead of steel for producing their futuristic electric car, the i3. With emission regulations getting stricter, BMW hopes to take an early step to avoid being heavy fuel consumption vehicles in a market with increasing demand for fuel efficiency. The only way to do so is to make the cars lighter.

I personally think that BMW is taking the right step in doing so, although when I read that other cars such as Formula one racing and Bugatti have used carbon fiber I really do wonder about how much this new car will cost. They are not expecting a short term pay out from this change in production, BMW might not see profits from this decision for quite some time. They are trying to be one step ahead of the other race rockets that rely on the upper class to buy their “gas gusslers” even with exceeding oil prices. If BMW can attain their long term goal of using carbon fiber in production which is hopefully going to decrease the price per kilogram of their new input then yes they eventually will see large profits in creating a sustainable, light enough, fuel efficient car for the future.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-14/bmw-makes-lone-shift-to-carbon-fiber-to-gain-auto-edge.html