BMW and Germany –
these are the epitomes of reasonable behavior.
Because a BMW accelerates rather nicely
and we are the only European country
without a hindering speed limit.
Even Austrians envy us.
And that is where reasonability comes in.
Because BMW puts a lot of emphasis on proper testing.
Pouring their endless experience and a metric ton of money
into gigantic driving simulators.
Yeah, the film crew is here.
Can we go in? Can we shoot?
And they have Dutch engineers, too.
Like Dr. Joost Venrooij.
Let me just put this away.
So, this is the high-fidelity driving simulator.
The newest and biggest driving simulation system of BMW.
We are currently building it.
When this thing moves it’s majestic.
It’s fascinating.
It’s fascinating to see this thing move.
Yeah, let’s make it move.
Wow, that’s amazing.
The biggest driving simulator at BMW
and it moves forward AND backwards!
Like a charm.
And what’s your baby’s name?
FaSi.
People over here at BMW are so diligent and modest.
They just build it and then they call it FaSi.
Cute!
Do you love it?
Err … Yeah. I think so.
I mean, I just got married.
So, I love my wife a lot more.
But this is also quite special.
Let’s say … let’s call it, like, a baby.
How much electricity does such a simulator use?
Per day, per week, per month? In a whole year?
I mean, the FaSi is there in order to
increase the car's energy efficiency.
To make it more energy-efficient. More environmentally friendly. To save energy on the street.
-So the FaSi is very, very, very important.
Yes!
You know, Gottlieb, the FaSi seems to me
to be an expensive plaything
of some crackpot engineer.
Tut-tut!
That’s fake news.
It’s fact-check-time.
So, there are a number of sustainability aspects here.
So, first of all, of course all of this is electric.
And all this energy is green.
So that’s part one.
Part two is, of course, that because we can do this in here,
I don’t have to actually drive a car.
And we can also save a lot of CO2.
The goal is to build the best driving simulator in the galaxy.
Let’s do a quick reality check.
Is this really the best FaSi in the galaxy?
BMW has the best FaSi in the galaxy?
Never!
Forget it!
The FaSi on Delta 354 blows theirs away.
YEAH! Delta 354’s FaSi is sick!
Dammit!
I think we can neglect this information.
BMW’s driving simulator is still the best in Bavaria.
And it’s surely the most expensive in the universe.
And the greenest of course.
We need to talk to the sustainability pros,
like Anna Goldhofer.
She invented the BMW super-sustainable floormat.
100% sustainable.
Yes, we have the same thought.
A car manufacturer washing its hands clean with a floormat?!
Very awesome.
But with 18 million cars sold every year worldwide,
and each needing four floormats …
Well, let’s say it’s a good start.
Car manufacturers contribute
not insignificantly to the climate crisis.
Still, I see great potential
to address the industry directly,
specifically automotive manufacturing,
to make the world of cars a little bit greener.
So that’s the BMW of the future?
A sustainable car company?
… and a sunroof like that is also …
I do think that a car
gets recycled today.
It is born again.
Of course.
But Gottlieb …
The scrapping premium would then be
nothing other than-- … than the solution …
They obviously have no clue what they are talking about.
Sustainability is not just about emissions.
It’s about recycling, too.
It’s taking something apart that you worked on for years,
ripping the heart out of a beloved creation
to build something new.
That’s his job, Matthias Schröder.
The good thing is that with recycling
we take the interesting next step,
to say very clearly
that we want to make a true circular economy.
To really use the materials
in future generations again.
Sustainability means proper recycling, too.
It means converting high and scrap back into high-end cars.
It’s about transformation.
The first time it was of course hard
to see a car disassembled
with an excavator.
The engine torn out,
it does hurt to see.
Yeah, up to 95% of a car will be
recycled, and I think if we keep it up,
to make a car out of it,
I think it's just terrific.
Thanks for your dedication, Matthias.
All of a sudden, by total coincidence …
yes, coincidence, I swear …
we meet the CEO of BMW, Oliver Zipse.
People at BMW know him as R.
Maybe that’s why we find him
on the testing facility in Aschheim.
How do we manage to lead this world into the future?
Environmental protection plays a very large role.
Questions of justice also play a role.
And to me it's always becoming clearer
that a successful business model answers almost all these questions.
And that's my primary task,
to have a successful business model
which can only function
when it also answers societal questions.
I'm convinced of it.
To think that there could be
any customer base in the world
to whom environmental protection won't matter.
It's just not the case.
Transformation of industry is the quest of our time.
If a robot as tall as a house can transform into a truck,
then there is no reason why BMW
can’t transform into a sustainable company.
We are now on a path
to make BMW more sustainable.
In all its facets.
How our processes are designed,
how we think,
how the products are oriented.
What I especially like is that internally
I see no fear of this transformation,
but rather a will to design
and eagerness to do something new.
And that's what BMW is all about.
Yaay!
TO TRANSFORMATION!!
BEAUTIFUL TRANSFORMATION!
And here’s some transformation for you, too.
Transformation! YEAH!
Trans-for-ma-tion!
Transformation.
Ah, transformation.