Carbon fiber is one of the most popular materials in modern motorsport and car making, as the material is both lightweight and strong, ideal for manufacturers who are looking to enhance performance without sacrificing safety. However, carbon fiber is expensive and demanding to make, and clearly BMW sees it as a place where it can improve, so much so that it has been exploring natural fiber composite technology for some time.
This has gone quite well for BMW and now it is looking to further commit to the new material. This is confirmed in a press release where BMW explains that it will start using natural fiber in more of its motorsport endeavours and also on roof structures for its cars going forward.
The material has been made by the Swiss tech company BComp, and another reason why BMW seems to like it so much is that it reduces its C02e footprint by around 40% when compared to carbon fiber usage.
While the future seems to be very focussed on natural fibers, BMW also notes that the "ultimate performance test" is coming up, as the material will be used in its BMW M4 GT4 during the 24-hour race around Nürburgring.