Cheap Renewable Power Key to BMW’s Electric Megacity

Carbon fiber has long been seen as a potentially powerful weapon in automakers' arsenal for designing more efficient vehicles. But the lightweight, super-strong material does not come cheap—at least, not yet. BMW plans to use carbon fiber for its upcoming Megacity electric vehicle, and at the Los Angeles Auto Show the company detailed its strategy for slashing production costs for the material.

Richard Steinberg, BMW's manager of electric vehicle operations and strategy for North America, said on Wednesday that the automaker plans to use hydropower for the energy-intensive manufacturing of carbon fiber.

With plans initially to invest $100 million, a joint venture between BMW and Germany’s SGL Group began building a new plant this summer in Washington—a state that has become a hot spot for energy-guzzling data centers due to the abundance of cheap hydropower generated there. Thanks to the giant Grand Coulee Dam and other hydroelectric stations on the Columbia River, Washington State has the lowest electricity rates in the United States—about four cents per kilowatt-hour for industrial customers, or 40 percent below the national average.

Cheap Renewable Power Key to BMW’s Electric Megacity