BMW has revealed its plan for how to cut the amount of waste involved in building new cars.
The iVision Circular is made of 100 per cent recycled materials, and is 100 per cent recyclable down to the solid-state battery.
Vehicle-to-grid capability is baked into the car, for smarter charging.
Don’t expect this cleaner, greener BMW to roll into showrooms any time soon. It’s pitched as the city car you can expect to see in 2040, so don’t go selling your 2020 1 Series in the hopes of being greener just yet.
From the outside, the iVision Circular has a fairly simple one-box design designed to maximise interior space.
Gone are the traditional kidney grilles up front, replaced with a display BMW says can be used to display a range of grille-style graphics without the manufacturing complexity of a traditional bumper assembly.
Superfluous trim pieces or badges are conspicuous by their absence, again to reduce complexity.
The exterior is made of recycled aluminium with anodised gold finish, while the rear gets its blue finish from heat-treated steel. BMW says the way the metals are finished makes them easier to recycle.
Even the tyres are designed with sustainability in mind, using sustainably-cultivated natural rubber.
Inside, the iVision Circular is a four-seater designed to feel light and airy.
The doors open wide to reveal a space full of 3D-printed trim pieces, designed to minimise the amount of waste from offcuts.
BMW says new joining techniques remove the need for glue, and the uniquely-shaped seats free up more legroom than you’d expect of a small car.
Up front, the infotainment system is a head-up display on steroids. Information is projected across the width of the windscreen, although the driver can choose what’s in their field of vision and what’s hidden away.
Down back, the windows can be tinted variably depending on what the passengers want.
“The BMW iVision Circular illustrates our all-encompassing, meticulous way of thinking when it comes to sustainable mobility,” said Oliver Zipse, BMW Group chairman.
“It symbolises our ambition to be a pioneering force in the development of a circular economy.”
