lithium ion battery pack Cheap Renewable Power Key to BMW’s Electric Megacity

This story is part of a special series to explore energy issues.
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Carbon fiber has long been seen as a potentially powerful weapon for automakers to design more efficient vehicles.
But it's light, super
At least, solid materials are not cheap yet.
BMW plans to use carbon fiber on its upcoming large electric vehicle, and at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the company details its strategy to cut production costs for this material.
Richard Steinberg, BMW's North American electric vehicle operations and strategy manager, said on Wednesday that the automaker plans to use water and electricity for energy
Reinforced manufacturing of carbon fiber.
With the initial $100 million investment plan, a joint venture between BMW and the German SGL Group began building a new plant in Washington this summer, which has become a hot spot for energy.
With a lot of cheap water and electricity generated there, the data center is in trouble.
Thanks to the big Cully Dam and other hydropower stations on the Columbia River, Washington's electricity bill is the lowest in the United States, about 4 cents per kilowatt.
The number of hours for industrial customers was 40% lower than the national average.
BMW also reportedly plans to reuse waste in carbon emissions
Steinberg pointed out that BMW hopes to achieve economies of scale by increasing carbon emissions
Fiber production.
How big is the scale of carbon emissions, how long is still an open question
A fiber factory under construction in West Lake.
Earlier this month, Washington Governor Chris Gregoire said discussions had begun on whether to double the size of the facility.
Light weight and low battery cost. Lightweight materials are particularly attractive to plugs
In vehicles that transport a lot of lithium
Ion battery pack.
David Hwang, a senior material analyst at Lux Research, said fuel consumption usually drops by about 2% per 3% of weight.
"In electric vehicles, in the same range, this directly means that the battery is reduced by 2%," he explained . ".
"Considering that a large part of the final cost of the car comes from the battery, this reduction is very significant in terms of the return on investment of the car.
As Steinberg says, when the cost of the battery comes up, "it changes the equation" for the carbon fiber ".
(Related: Photo: Start your motor, electric car into the field of view) minimizing weight is the core of GM --
The plan of the supported startup Bright Automotive opens up a part of the work --
Truck market with plug
In a hybrid model called idea.
As Michael chalsky, head of corporate strategy at Bright recently explained to National Geographic, the company chose 13-kilowatt-
The hour pack, not the bigger 16-kilowatt-
The hourly package, though the larger package may qualify for a higher federal tax credit.
Larger batteries will have a ripple effect, forcing the company to strengthen the entire vehicle to handle the increased battery size and weight, he said.
The result will be a vehicle that, despite government subsidies, will have a higher cost of ownership than a smaller, more streamlined version of the battery pack due to fuel costs.
BMW seeks electric vehicles for big cities and plans to use carbon emissions-
To minimize weight, the fiber body and the "aluminum sandwich platform," Steinberg said ".
Different from Mini E (a pair
Seat electric version of Bmw Mini s Mini) and ActiveE (electric four
Based on the seat of the BMW 1 Series Coupe) the mega city is specially designed for power operation.
Efforts to minimize weight will help cars reach 100 miles (160 kilometers) of electric mileage, and fewer cars with heavier battery capacity need to travel this distance, Steinberg said.
Three of BMW's cars are integrated into the big city.
Phase method of "electric maneuver", including on-site trials of electric Mini E and U in progressS.
Electric activation test started in the summer of 2011.
Steinberg pointed out that the technology used in the event (especially the electric drive system) will be very similar to the big cities due in 2013.
By using composites (including carbon fiber and fiberglass), automakers can reduce the weight of their cars by 15%, "so the economic impact on electric vehicles is not trivial, Huang said.
In addition, these advanced materials can reduce the cost of some tools and assembly, because as Hwang Yuxi said, "you can make more exotic shapes with composite materials than with steel.
"The materials themselves are still much more expensive than steel, but in general, the composites" certainly have started to change from exotic sports cars to cars for ordinary consumers, "Hwang said.