InsideEVs Plugged-In Podcast · InsideEVs - Electric Vehicle News

Why The BMW iX3's Grille Is Such A Big Deal - BONUS EP!

·34 min·2 clips

BMW piloted a digital supply chain on the kidney grille and traced its CO2 footprint back to raw materials.

1. InsideEVs Plugged-In Podcast focuses on BMW’s plan to cut CO2 emissions in automotive manufacturing at Climate Week New York City. 2. Patrick George and Tim Levin host Hendrik Lange, BMW Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Strategy and Sustainability, and Inga Grieger, BMW iVentures Business Development Manager. 3. The episode asks how BMW can reduce emissions in the supply chain, not only in vehicle use, and why that matters for the iX3 and Neue Klasse. 4. Inga Grieger says BMW iVentures was founded in 2011 in New York City as BMW Group’s corporate venture capital arm. 5. She says the firm moved to Silicon Valley in 2016 and now has offices in Munich and Silicon Valley. 6. Grieger says BMW iVentures has a second fund of $800 million in assets under management. 7. She says the team has invested in more than 85 companies and has 61 active portfolio companies. 8. Grieger says BMW iVentures invests in series A and B companies across car development, manufacturing, supply chain, digital sales, services, and sustainability. 9. She points to Solid Power as an example of an early battery investment that became strategically relevant for BMW Group. 10. The discussion turns to Bcomp, a company making flax-based natural-fiber parts that BMW uses in series cars. 11. Grieger says Bcomp gained momentum after a motorsport rule change pushed teams toward a more sustainable alternative to carbon fiber. 12. She says the flax-based material has the same performance as carbon fiber and can be colored or bound in ways carbon fiber cannot. 13. Lange says BMW qualified the material in motorsport first and then moved it toward series production. 14. He says BMW can make sustainability visible to customers instead of hiding it inside the car. 15. Grieger highlights Cyclic Materials, which recovers raw materials from batteries, electronics, and motors instead of relying on mined inputs. 16. She says only 1% of those materials are recovered today and notes the company is scaling production facilities in Arizona. 17. Lange describes BMW’s supply-chain pressure from the semiconductor crisis, the COVID-19 shutdowns, and disruptions tied to the Ukraine war. 18. He says BMW handles 36 million parts per day through 2,700 first-tier suppliers and a wider network of 65,000 second-tier suppliers plus deeper tiers. 19. The tone is technical and conversational, with the hosts pressing for concrete examples, numbers, and practical supply-chain details. 20. Listeners interested in EV manufacturing, battery sourcing, and industrial decarbonization will get the most value, while people wanting only consumer-car reviews may skip it.

As heard by us

A clear look at why cleaner EVs still depend on cleaner steel, aluminum, battery materials, and supplier work.

BMW's decarbonization strategy gets a clear, useful frame: once battery-electric vehicles reduce more of the emissions tied to driving, the next hard work moves deeper into the supply chain.

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Why you'd press play

See why BMW says the next emissions fight for EVs shifts upstream, into manufacturing and the supply chain.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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