In 2021, BMW unveiled the i Vision Circular concept to portray a fully recyclable compact hatchback for 2040. It’ll be a while before the BMW Group will be able to engineer such a car, but it continues to make progress. In fact, its MINI brand hopes to have a car ready with an entirely recyclable interior sooner than you might think.
But how soon is “soon” anyway? According to MINI’s Head of Colour and Trim Design, it could happen “within a generation.” The life cycle of a modern car typically lasts around 7 years, so Kerstin Schmeding is suggesting we might see such an eco-friendly vehicle in the early 2030s. In an interview with British magazine Auto Express, she said it’s a topic the Oxford-based automaker is actively researching.
An entirely recyclable interior is “something [MINI is] truly targeting; this is the right way to go” before adding that it’s “definitely possible.” To make it happen, they’re “looking at how you build a car, and how you disassemble it again.” To achieve its lofty sustainability goals, the company wants to reduce the number of materials it uses throughout the cabin.
Sustainability is a hot topic these days at MINI. Take for example this Aceman small electric crossover, which uses recycled polyester for parts of the door trim. The standard cloth seats can be replaced with Vescin, which is marketing jargon for synthetic leather. BMW’s equivalent is called Veganza and can be found in a variety of models, even the new 5 Series. The G60 is actually the first-ever BMW with a fully vegan interior.
MINI’s eco-conscious approach also involves dropping combustion engines in the medium-term future. The plan is still in place to go fully electric around 2030 when Rolls-Royce will also stop selling cars with gas engines. BMW hasn’t set an end date for ICE but expects electric cars to account for at least half of sales by the end of the decade.
Source: Auto Express
