Ever thought you might sit on a driver’s seat made of recycled PET bottles? Or that the covers of the engine compartment and the luggage compartment are made of recycled maritime plastics? In a world where the idea of sustainability has worked itself into the core of production values and product design, BMW’s new iX3 50 xDrive is a step in the right direction.
The iX3 is the first of the ‘Neue Klass’ cars and will be unveiled to the world at the IAA Mobility Show 2025 in Munich next month. With its debut, the iX3 will allow the world a peek into the significant technological advancements made by BMW in areas of electric mobility, digitalisation, connectivity, design, and above all, sustainability.
At the heart of the iX3’s ability to bridge the span between vehicle development and sustainability is BMW’s reliance on principles of circularity in its construction. Even key components use secondary or recycled materials. The engine compartment cover and the luggage compartment under the front hatch are made of materials where 30 per cent are composed of recycled maritime plastics. These old fishing nets, ropes, and other associated material are often dumped into the oceans and lost as ghost nets. The wheel carriers and swivel bearings use aluminium where up to 80 per cent is secondary aluminium that has been recycled. Even the cast aluminium wheels feature 70 per cent secondary material, which has been recycled.
In the Essential trim, the seat covers are made from a specially designed fabric named Econeer. This fabric uses yarn crafted entirely from recycled PET bottles. Even the adhesive and stitching are created by recycling PET bottles. The vehicle’s centre console, instrument panel, and floor trim are made of recycled material too.
It isn’t just the use of recycled materials that makes the BMW iX3 drive towards a more sustainable future. With BMW’s EfficientDynamics at work, the vehicle uses 20 per cent less energy than its predecessor model. Even its manufacturing is being done at a plant in Hungary, which is the first BMW factory to not use any fossil fuels in the production process. The ‘Neue Klasse’ marks a significant milestone in the brand’s journey towards a target of Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 or earlier.
