When BMW announced that the BMW i3 electric city car will sport a full carbon fiber passenger cell, pretty much everyone concentrated on the advantages of the carbon fiber.

Now more and more the question “how will it behave in a crash?” pops up and plenty skeptics are born.

As some might argue, carbon fiber isn’t quite as durable as steel, so having the whole frame of a car built with it could spell disaster. Fortunately, BMW really did come through with their research into light materials. Their CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) has proven to be not only lighter than steel, but slightly more flexible and equally strong.

So, in the event of a crash, the passenger should be just as safe, if not safer than if BMW would have built the i3 with steel. Further more, BMW claims that should you crash your i3 and live to want it repaired, the costs of doing it will be similar to their 1 Series. That is quite a boon for the small city car, considering the 1 Series is the entry model.

To all these add the fact that BMW’s CFRP won’t rust and we really see why the German car maker is so proud of the small electric vehicle.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

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