Governor Inslee sees more Washington state jobs in carbon fiber vehicles
Jul 23, 2013, 5:14 PM | Updated: Jul 24, 2013, 9:28 am
The all electric BMW i3 concept car is promoted as a sustainable vehicle designed for urban areas, needing a charge just every two to three days. (AP Photo/File)
(AP Photo/File)
Washington Governor Jay Inslee has become a champion of clean energy and the electric car industry. He’ll be a guest speaker in New York City next week when BMW rolls out its new plug-in, emission free car, partially built in Washington.
Inslee was a guest speaker five years ago at an electric vehicle conference in Washington, D.C., talking about revolutionizing the U.S. into a clean energy economy.
“We were in a space race in the 60s. We now are in a clean energy race and that race is determining which nations will provide the world with clean energy technology,” Inslee said in 2008. He also wrote a book, “Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Economy,” envisioning – among other things – the use of carbon fiber in vehicles.
“I thought it could happen,” Inslee recalled this week. “And, in fact, it is happening and this weekend, we’re going to see the international rollout of a carbon fiber car in New York City, some of the parts, or at least the fabric that goes into the parts, made right here in Washington state.”
Inslee says the new BMW i3 will feature parts made from carbon fiber processed at SGL group in Moses Lake, which employs 80 people, maybe more someday soon.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to build a whole ecosystem of industrial development around carbon fiber in our state,” he declared.
The all-electric BMW i3 concept car is promoted as a sustainable vehicle designed for urban areas, needing a charge just every two to three days. Inslee is more focused on what the car means for Washington state jobs.
“So, made in Moses Lake, ending up in an electric car […] that’s a good combination and we’re going to grow jobs right here in carbon fiber industrial development,” Inslee predicted.
