Renewable materials have already been used in motorsport at the BMW Group, but now natural fibre composites are making their way into series vehicles too.

After years of R&D, the Group has achieved series maturity for natural fibre composites, bringing renewable materials from motorsport into production vehicles. Renewable raw materials were first used to make innovative reinforcements in 2019, when BMW M Motorsport introduced them in its Formula E cars. But natural fibre composites are now set to be used in future series production as well.

Developed to maturity, natural fibre composites even meet the rigorous requirements for roof structures in overall vehicle homologation, including vehicle roofs, enabling lighter, more sustainable designs and reducing CO2e emissions.

Lightweight engineering has been a key focus of development work for many years at the BMW Group, and the integration of lower-CO₂e natural fibres into composites has gradually gained traction. Tests show that these kinds of materials are best-suited for visible exterior and interior components. The BMW Group s collaboration with the Swiss clean tech company Bcomp aims to reduce CO₂e emissions from cars even further in the future.

Vehicle Roof Made with 40% Lower Emissions

Natural fibre composites are particularly suitable for making visible interior and exterior parts. In vehicle roofs, for example, they can replace conventional carbon fibre components and reduce the CO₂e footprint from production by ~40 percent, including end-of-life considerations.