Since BMW's first electric car, the 1602e, led the marathon at the Munich Olympics in 1972, BMW has been on the road to sustainability for nearly 50 years. Today, sustainability has become an important part of BMW's global growth strategy.
In China, BMW also actively advocates the sustainable development strategy, and has achieved good results and recognition: in 2020, BMW Brilliance was awarded the "2020 Enterprise Best Practice Award for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals" by the United Nations Global Compact China Network for its achievements in sustainable management of the supply chain, and is the only automotive company among the 20 award-winning companies; on the production side, BMW Brilliance has released the "Sustainability Report" for 8 consecutive years since 2014 to disclose its sustainable footprint to the society.
At present, China is taking the "3060" double carbon target as the guide to implement comprehensive energy conservation and emission reduction in the whole society. BMW, which makes China its home, will more actively implement its sustainable development strategy and contribute to the realization of the "double carbon" goal.
Strive to achieve the target of reducing carbon by 200 million tons
Sustainability is the cornerstone of BMW's corporate strategy. To this end, BMW has set long-term goals for sustainable development and is committed to ensuring transparency in the process. According to the sustainable development goals announced in 2020, by 2030, the average carbon emissions of BMW bicycles will be reduced by 40% compared with 2019, of which the average carbon emissions of bicycles in the supply chain will be reduced by 20%, the average carbon emissions of bicycles in the production process will be reduced by 80%, the average carbon emissions of bicycles in the use link will be reduced by 50%, and the overall reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of the Group will exceed 200 million tons.
To this end, BMW has accelerated the pace of electrification of all products and will launch more sustainable products that users yearn for. According to the plan, by the end of 2023, BMW will provide 25 new energy models worldwide, half of which are pure electric models; by 2030, BMW is expected to deliver about 10 million pure electric vehicles worldwide.
In particular, it is worth mentioning that from 2021 onwards, BMW will incorporate the sustainable development goals together with financial data and business development into the financial report, continuously and transparently announce the completion of the goals in the financial report, and directly link the completion with the compensation of the management, which also fully demonstrates BMW's determination and confidence in leading sustainable development.
Pursuing "sustainability" throughout the life cycle
Electrification is an important way for BMW to achieve its "double carbon" goal, but BMW's sustainable strategy is far more than electrification. In fact, BMW focuses on carbon reduction and sustainability throughout the life cycle of automobiles, from supply chain, production, use to recycling.
Among them, in the supply chain link, BMW Brilliance and the primary and secondary suppliers of high-voltage batteries have promised that BMW's fifth-generation high-voltage power battery production will use 100% green energy, 100% use recycled aluminum (compared with raw aluminum, carbon dioxide savings can reach 4-6 times), and at least 50% use reused cobalt and nickel.
On the production side, from 2021 onwards, all BMW production sites around the world will be powered by renewable energy. Taking BMW Brilliance's production base in Shenyang as an example, it has achieved 100% renewable electricity power supply production by relying on its own solar power, purchasing wind power and subscribing to international green power certificates.
During the recycling phase, by working with professional agencies, BMW found a way to increase the recycling rate of battery materials to 97%, so that it does not have to use a non-environmentally friendly way to burn the battery. This point is of far-reaching significance for the power battery industry, which is about to enter the peak period of recycling.
In addition, BMW uses leading digital technology tools, including blockchain, to achieve complete traceability of key raw materials in the global supply chain. By striving to achieve carbon reduction and sustainable development throughout the life cycle of the car, BMW is expected to truly establish a near-closed-loop material recycling model in the future.
Create green products with the concept of "circular economy"
For users, there may not be a deep understanding of BMW's long-term goals in terms of sustainable development, and there is not much personal experience about its sustainable means in the supply chain, production and recycling stages. The product is still the place where BMW has the closest contact with users, so BMW fully demonstrates the concept of sustainable development for users through new and innovative products.
The BMW i recycling concept car, which was launched in the world in September this year, embodies the four guiding principles of "rethinking, re-refining, reusing and recycling" proposed by BMW based on the circular economy. If this car has a strong experimental nature, then the innovative BMW iX, which was launched at the end of the year, allows Chinese users to feel at close range how BMW's concept of sustainable development can be interpreted on electric vehicles.
First of all, in the development and production process, the innovative BMW iX electric drive system has no longer used rare earth materials, equipped with high-voltage power batteries, the amount of secondary nickel has been as high as 50%, the secondary aluminum share in the shell is as high as 30%, and 95% of the vehicle can be recycled.
In the interior, the innovative BMW iX's centre console control panel is made of sustainably produced FSC certified wood, the fabric and microfiber upholstery are made of 50% recycled polyester, and the carpet floor mats are made of 100% recycled nylon. The manufacturing process is also more environmentally friendly, with the leather treated with olive leaf extract instead of the traditional tanning preparation, which comes from leaves collected after pruning olive trees in Europe each year.
In addition to the above two representative models, BMW said that the "new generation" model that will be launched in 2025 will also significantly increase the proportion of reused materials (such as recycled steel, plastic, aluminum). As BMW has always emphasized, luxury and sustainability are inseparable, "only shouldering responsibility, can be luxurious positioning", BMW with China as its home, will continue to exert efforts on the road of sustainable development, make the environment more livable, so that development has a longer long-term vitality.