BMW's Cloth Car Prototype

Unique and first of it's kind, BMW produced an eco-friendly yet sexy automobile named GINA, an acronym for “Geometry and Functions In ‘N’ Adaptations”.  The exterior shell is made completely out of a smooth textile fabric (polyurethane-coated Lycra) wrapped tightly around the movable frame of metal and carbon fiber wires. Because there is essentially no heavy metal weighing the car down, this model will fly on the road, making it one of the most fuel-efficient cars available to date.

For now, the model lives in the BMW museum in Munich.   The BMW promotion video clearly explains the motives behind the alternative approach of this model.

“A minimalist approach to the use of components and production stages yields ecological and economic benefits. As part of our endeavor to create social sustainability, we are looking for production methods that rely on the expertise of highly qualified specialists instead of expensive manufacturing tools. […] With its sensible and careful use of resources for products and their development, the GINA principle contributes to the sustainability of future car generations. After all, the social significance of the GINA philosophy is a product of its heightened application of social aspects both to the development processes and to the conscious reflection of customer requirements.”

Comments

[shlog blogger]

this is the dumbest thing i've ever seen.

shlog blogger
http://shlogblog.blogspot.com/

[fred]

this is realy smart. But i still dont know how it is fuel efficent besides the fact of how light it is.

[E. Michael Martin]

The cloth would rip.

Interesting idea, but not nearly durable enough.