Carbon fiber, an ultra-light and durable material, is no stranger on the race track, where speed is paramount and price is no object. But high costs have largely limited carbon fiber to the luxury section of the consumer market.
The passenger compartment of BMW's concept electric vehicles, the i3 and i8, are made entirely out of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. The composite material is at least as strong as steel but around 50 percent lighter, and is 20 percent lighter than aluminum, according to the company.
BMW has made big investments in carbon fiber in the hope of bringing down costs. Last year, BMW opened a carbon fiber production plant in Moses Lake, Wash., where it will manufacture the material for the i-class vehicles. The i3 is expected to launch in 2013, and the i8 in 2014.
"Carbon fibers are a key construction material for the automotive industry of the 21st century and will change the way we develop and build cars," said Norbert Reithofer, BMW's CEO and board chairman, upon announcing the new production facility.
The Tesla Roadster, a $100,000 high-performance all-electric sports car, is made with a carbon-fiber body panels and an aluminum chassis for better efficiency. On the new Tesla Model S all-electric sedan, a more affordable option at around $50,000, the company used aluminum for the body but passed on the carbon fiber.
"For limited or low-volume production cars like the Roadster, carbon fiber is a great material to reduce weight. It's not a solution for higher-volume production due to cost and manufacturing time," said Tesla Design Director Franz von Holzhausen in a statement earlier this year. "For Model S, we are using aluminum for the body panels and chassis. Aluminum is as strong as steel but lighter in weight, and has similar manufacturing capabilities. Lighter weight translates directly to efficiency."
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500
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13 Comments
Add CommentSounds like higher mileage at the cost of higher fatalities. is this the tradeoff we want?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiszsingerb,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou might find some basic information on the effects of using these lighter materials in an online article, like the one that is 3 inches above where you posted your comment.
If you don't believe lightweight cars can be safe - I suggest you google "F1 2012 crash Spa". If the tubs had been steel there would have been many deaths.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiszsingerb, HELLO?!!! OK, smart guy. Here is a question, just for you. If I take out 35% of the weight out of 2000lb car, it will be 700lbs lighter. And, according to this article, using better steel and aluminum or composite materials will not hurt the car's structural integrity with the reduction in weight. And if the car is just as strong and a 35% lighter vehicle crashes into it, then wouldn't that actually be A LOT safer. WOW!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat about dimpling the outside of cars as a golf ball, like Myth Busters showed helped reduce drag? I still haven't seen any cars being marketed this way for efficiency purposes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJust 3 thoughts: 1. The people who are saying it will be "just as strong" are members of the industry who are trying to sell their new materials to the auto makers. I'd have felt a lot better if it had been members of the insurance testing institute. 2. A small change to lighter bumpers lead to better gas mileage but gave us astronomical repair bills for 5 mpg crashes. What will these changes mean? 3. Yes, but what if the vehicle that smashes into you is not one the new "whizbang" ligher cars but a 2010 Chevy Suburban? A base course in physics might tell you which vehicle you will want to be in.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat about the VW Golf? :>)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSorry, I just HAD to do it. (I apologize to all readers.)
Unfortunately, no. The VW Golf did not use dimpling.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"There are literally hundreds of different technologies that can be brought to bear to help improve fuel efficiency, but ALL OF THEM begin with lightweighting," said Kevin Lowery, a spokesman with the aluminum company Alcoa Inc.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisALL OF THEM? Only if you're willfully blind in order to sell a product.
I have an idea. Raise taxes on the giant SUV's and trucks on the road that people don't need and encourage them to buy smaller cars that will be perfectly adequate for their needs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLike farmers, ranchers, handymen, delivery folks... and the poor who will be buying the big cars that the rich will put on the used car market after they buy their new, lighter, cars?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWill we have a federally mandated test to see if a smaller car will be "perfectly adequate for their needs"?
You have a good concept. Raising taxes has been attempted before. Every time the price of gas increases that spike is in essence a tax. Behavior of drivers indicates that the tax isn't high enough to get people to convert to more fuel efficient vehicles. We still observe drivers using the drive through lanes. When we see the drive through lines disappear then we will know we have reached the tipping point for the gas price tax.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree. The ones who get hit the hardest with additional gas taxes are the ones I listed in #11... the ones who mostly have little choice on larger vehicles and often can least afford more taxes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think your point is, correctly, that the folks well off enough to drive the big vehicles as a choice and who may not "need" them (by other people's judgement) are seldom affected by those tax increases and continue to drive big cars/trucks anyway.
It is an extremely complex problem and sound bite style one-liners on either side will not get it done. I applaud real "all of the above" solutions like lightening cars. I just worry about the costs in human lives and additional repair bills (see my bumper example in #6 above) if we only focus on mileage increases.