From fall 2027, the BMW Group’s historic location in Munich’s Milbertshofen district will switch all of its production over to battery-powered vehicles. This shift in drive systems marks a turning point, and a transformation. But what form should this new future take? If anybody can answer that question, it must surely be Kai Langer, Head of BMW i Design since July 2019. The industrial designer has accompanied the brand’s progress since the earliest stages. Langer has been part of the company for over two decades. A successful designer for BMW for many years, he was already responsible for BMW Group Advanced Design before taking over at the helm of BMW i five years ago.
Materials for vegan interiors
Kai Langer – dark hair, jeans, black shirt – studied in Pforzheim, an elite cradle of German automotive design. Unsurprisingly, he loves to draw. But instead of sketching a few lines on paper, he prefers to map out the large-scale outlines of the future. In Langer’s view, the transformation to sustainable e-mobility extends far beyond mere questions of contours or dimensions. He sees it as a holistic task, a universal concept that starts by throwing everything into question that the automotive industry has spent decades building up: “We need to invent all-new structures, processes, tools and technologies,” he affirms. As an example, he mentions BMW’s radical switch to green energy to power the BMW i3 production operations at its Leipzig plant, the first company to do so. Alongside constructing production halls, BMW set up wind turbines to generate power – at a time where few had any inkling of what that would mean for the existing infrastructure. In addition, a new material, carbon, was introduced together with changes in production processes. The sustainability philosophy that underpins the BMW i3 starts with questions: “How can we supply the production line with green energy? What materials can we use? We had to work hard to gain people’s acceptance,” recalls Langer. “But the challenge was welcomed by the whole team and the company because it enabled us to define the direction we would be heading in the future.”
The tree of sustainability
Langer has long since made his peace with the fact that he no longer gets to design a vehicle from start to finish. In fact, as he points out, that isn’t even a possibility any more. “When I look at some of the things done by young members of our team, I have no idea how they do it,” says the Head of BMW i Design in a remarkably laid-back tone. “I still enjoy going back to the drawing-board; after all, it isn’t what I do today, but it’s what I originally trained in. But fortunately, we discuss designs in a group to reach the best solution, and that’s my job today. I let myself be inspired by my team, I welcome that inspiration, and I make a decision on that basis.” Langer compares the growth of sustainability with a tree planted by the company and now flourishing, putting out more and more branches and twigs. Circularity is the key: “We need to significantly shrink our carbon footprint,” says the designer. “Actually, that’s what the whole world has to do. And once we actively accept the responsibility, the company needs to identify the biggest point of leverage.” Closed material cycles comprise one major point. Langer notes that renewable raw materials are already pretty good, but points out it is much more effective to keep everything within a loop, like the well-known glass bottle deposit system. To establish circularity, familiar vehicle designs need to be scrutinized and questioned down to the last screw: “How do I need to separate out the parts to ensure they can be made from material that goes back into the cycle?” Adhesive bonding is a thing of the past. Now the goal is unmixed materials and smart disassembly, approached in gradual steps. With this in mind, Langer waxes enthusiastic about traditional Japanese houses made from wood without a single nail. “Pretty cool! I couldn’t stop examining every single joint of the beams and panels. Crazy! It’s incredible to realize the wealth of ideas, premium-quality craftsmanship and intellectual luxury that are involved.”
Transformation isn’t a process that’s over and done with one of these days. It’s ongoing.
Today’s automobiles have to be 95 percent recyclable. Yet the proportion of secondary material – that is, materials that can be repeatedly returned to the materials cycle – is still relatively low. There is definitely more that can be done, says Langer; as a father, he is aware of his responsibility to the coming generations. The bigger the challenge, the better. “Be it sustainability or efficiency, we’re never done; we’re permanently moving towards improvement. Transformation isn’t a process that’s over and done with one of these days. It’s ongoing.” No wonder some solutions to problems feel as insurmountable as a moon landing. At least until the next challenge comes along. And then there’s a whole new moon landing. And a new challenge.
Perfection is individuality
But if everything is in flux, doesn’t that change our view of the world? Our view of what premium quality should look like, feels like? Up to now, perfection has meant that parts which failed a visual conformity test have been scrapped. But Langer takes that as a fresh challenge. He points out that people expect quality to be consistent, “and we want to replicate cars so that every one looks exactly like its neighbor. But that may clash with our sustainability goal of never throwing anything away.” A whole new esthetic can’t be summoned up at the wave of a hand. But what about individual vehicles, in materials that may show unique surface or pattern variations? Like the “Vivid Blue Rubber” tire from a current study? Marble-effect surfaces, say, could create a warm, welcoming feel and inspire emotional connections. In that situation, every part would suddenly be absolutely perfect just as it came off the machine. “It has individuality. Design can make a virtue out of what appears to be a necessity.” Langer’s thoughts take flight. He proposes fully sustainable fabrics for clothing, ultra-comfortable, fun to wear and great-looking, and notes that thinking in production cycles is a return to nature. “We have materials, visionary materials, some of which we can even actually grow, and they look brilliant.” Langer talks about the structure of a snowflake, about the Fibonacci sequence. “In the future, we’ll also be able to create beautifully esthetic designs from sustainable materials. That’s exactly where development is currently heading.”
Materials that grow? Yes, that’s right. High tech has moved to drawing on nature for its inspiration, because nature works at maximum efficiency. “Up to now, we’ve limited our production technologies to precisely accurate reproduction,” says Langer and enthuses about the 3D printers of the future that will do nothing else than make things grow. “In this way, we’ll progress towards higher efficiency, step by step. For example, we need more advanced printers that run on green energy.” It may soon be possible to print an entire car side panel in secondary aluminum. And instead of shipping spare parts halfway around the world, all that’s needed will be to transmit highly accurate specifications to printers in different continents. It’s like the seed of a tree that floats across the Atlantic, and then finds the perfect spot to start growing.