Lux: carbon fiber to go mainstream in automobiles by 2025

Driven by a faster-than-expected pace of technology development, carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) will be poised to gain widespread adoption for automotive lightweighting by 2025, according to a new report from Lux Research, “Scaling Up Carbon Fiber: Roadmap to Automotive Adoption.”

Advances already underway in fiber, resin and composite part production will lead to a $6 billion market for automotive CFRPs in 2020, more than double Lux’s earlier projection. Even this figure is dwarfed by the full potential for CFRPs in automotive if they can become affordable enough for use in mainstream vehicles, Lux posits.

Current trends strongly indicate significant mainstream automotive adoption of CFRPs in the mid-2020s, and companies throughout the value chain must position themselves to take advantage of the coming shifts. However, long-term megatrends towards urbanization, connectivity and automation suggest that there could be a limited time window beyond that for penetrating the automotive space.

CFRP developers will have to continue the pace of innovation to overcome the high cost that has so far limited the material to less price-sensitive markets like aerospace and sporting goods.

—Anthony Vicari, Lux Research Associate and the lead author of the report

Lux Research analysts reviewed the technology development in CFRPs, and evaluated its economics to consider its impact on the automotive sector. Among their findings:

• Growing partnerships hasten development. The number of direct partnerships between carmakers or Tier-1 automotive suppliers and carbon fiber players has nearly doubled to 11 since 2012. Toray, with partnerships with Plasan Carbon Composites and Magna, has formed the most new relationships and is a major hub.
• Patent uptick suggests mid-2020 adoption. Using a predictive tool, Lux Research identified a lag of about 18 years between uptick of patent activity and attainment of mainstream commercial adoption milestones. With another major upturn in CFRP patent activity occurring in 2007, large-scale mainstream automotive use is likely by the mid-2020s.
• Other manufacturing costs need to be cut. Carbon fiber itself, at $28/kg for standard modulus fiber, represents just 22% of the cost of a final CFRP part. Additional advances are needed to reduce capital, labor, energy, resin and processing costs, which together make up the remaining 78%.

2015 BMW i3 by Everyn Garage Super Gallery (25 Photos)

Earlier this week, Chris DeMorro covered the Everyn Garage BMW i3- a suite of aftermarket body mods, suspension bits, and fat wheels/tires that helped give “the sportiest electric car for under $70K” an even sharper sporting edge. Now, we have even more pictures of this customized BMW i3 to share with you.

As you look through the Everyn Garage kit’s photo gallery, notice the tight fit and finish, straight reflection lines, and high-quality carbon fiber weave on the parts. It may not be your cuppa, exactly, but you have to admit it looks to be built to an exacting standard. Which, you know, is probably exactly what you should expect from a Japanese design firm charging serious money for what is, in essence, a set of glorified bumpers. Check it out, below, then let us know what you think of the Everyn Garage kit in the comments.

BMW i3 by Everyn Garage | Garage

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BMW i3 by Everyn Garage | Street

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Images: Everyn Garage, via Motorpasion.

Rolls-Royce Begins Work On Lighter Plug-in Hybrid Phantom

Big, bold, British luxury car maker Rolls-Royce is putting the next-generation Phantom on a strict diet and plug-in hybrid workout plan. Image is everything after all, and these days it’s in vogue to at least look like you give a damn about the planet’s environmental woes.

Set to launch in three years, the next Rolls-Royce Phantom will look different, and offer both traditional V12 power and a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. The optional plug-in hybrid will likely slot above the powerful V12, if Rolls has any wit about them. The performance potential of a budget-be-damned plug-in hybrid luxury sedan, and such a car could make even the most adrant oil baron a believer in hybrid technology.

If Rolls wants to achieve even a modicum of efficiency though, the Phantom will have to go on a serious diet, as the current car comes in at a massive 5,710 pounds. Put an average couple in there, and you’re looking at a three-ton car…and this is with a lightweight aluminum space frame! Parent company BMW is said to be considering a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) body shell to shed some of that excess weight. The Phantom is a prime candidate for CFRP, especially with BMW tripling output at its carbon fiber factory.

There’s also talk of a pure electric phantom, and with a drastic weight reduction, the next Phantom could dip below 5,000 pounds, not far from where the Tesla Model S sits. With a big-enough battery (made possible by a big price tag), an electric Rolls-Royce could make sense. Right now though, there are too many “ifs”, and with and plug-in hybrid model almost a certainty, I won’t hold my breath waiting for an electric Rolls.

Source: AutoCar

World’s First Carbon Fiber RV Is Eco-Chic Luxury On Wheels

RV builders have long embraced lightweight designs, and this carbon fiber camper designed in part by Dallara is pretty much the endgame. While it could cost more than a garage full of Ferraris, the high-tech CR-1 camper comes withs all sorts of eco-friendly and luxury-minded options, from solar panels to walk-in closets. Yeah, it’s nicer than my house too.

Built by Global Caravan Technologies, the carbon fiber CR-1 RV was built using techniques developed by IndyCar maker Dallara to forge a new niche for luxury campers. While there are already dozens of different ways to spend insane amounts of money on recreational vehicles, this fully carbon fiber design is the first of its kind. So despite being loaded with luxury features, CEO Charles Hoefer predicts his cutting-edge camper will weigh just 6,000 pounds (depending on configuration). That means 100% to 150% better fuel economy compared to similar campers, and the one-piece body and monocoque are bonded without using any sort of fasteners.

Carbon fiber has become almost old-hat for using on high-end exotics and sports cars, but the strong and light material is working its way into more mass market vehicles like the BMW i3. Yet its use in the RV market is minimal, which is where GCT comes in. As I’ve alrady hinted though, the CR-1 will have an expensive starting price, and only go up from there. You’ll need $170,000 to own just a basic model, which still comes with features like a master bed and bathroom and huge closets, as well as optional items like an integrated generator and 770 watt solar panel system. A fully-customized model could go for as much as $770,000.

For eco-friendly, off-the-grid living that doesn’t sacrifice comfort, the CR-1 offers an interesting proposition. On the inside it looks more like a New York City loft than a camper, and the ability to move it anywhere could make it an excellent alternative for antsy retirees, or anyone who wants to say they live in a race car.

I mean, close enough, right?

Source: Global Caravan Technologies | Autoblog

Kovit’s Carbon Tube Bicycle Has to Be Seen to Be Believed

This is Kovit’s latest Delta 7 road and track frame. The ultralight, carbon/kevlar bike was revealed to the world at last month’s Interbike show looking like something straight out of a sci-fi movie with a trellis of (what should be called) nanotubes and a wholly reasonable $3500 price tag.

I’m no expert on carbon tube bicycles- or, carbon tube anything, for that matter! As such, I’ll leave further descriptions of the Kovit Delta 7 to the 2 wheeled experts at Bike Rumor, who summed up the stunning bike’s structural advantages as follows:

What remains is the helically wound composite strands that are woven around straight strands to create isosceles triangles to form three dimensional ‘pyramids’. The result are tubes they say are incredibly resistant to bending, twisting and compression forces in all directions. The other benefit, besides being very lightweight, is that damage to one strand won’t compromise the integrity of the entire tube, as can happen with traditional carbon tubes.

The Kovit Delta 7 frame shown in these photos barely tips the scales at all. It weighs just 700 grams- about 1.5 pounds, or about what an iPad weighs with a Smart Cover on it.

What do you think, readers? Is $3500 too much for a bike frame, no matter how slick and trick it is? Is something like Kovit’s carbon tube wonder just the thing to get you to ditch 2 of your car’s 4 wheels? Take a few minutes to check out the photos from teh floor of IB13, then let us know what you think of the bike in the comments, below.

Source | Photos: Kovit, via Bike Rumor.

Toyota Ups the Carbon Fiber Ante

Toyota’s Lexus LFA supercar program is over – but the lessons Toyota learned from building the light weight, ultra-fast exotics are going to carry forward into the future of Toyota’s mainstream cars, if the latest reports are to be believed.

Over the years, several companies have justified spending serious money on supercars and motorsports by using the high-stress environment provided by motorsport to accelerate development of new technologies. Anti-lock brakes, fuel injection, turbochargers, kinetic recovery braking, ceramic braking materials, and – yes – the use of carbon composite materials were all developed in and for motorsports before the kinks and economies of scale allowed their transfer to everyday transportation appliances. Carbon fiber is significantly stronger than steel or aluminum by weight (and, if designed properly, by volume), so cars made with carbon fiber frames could be just as strong as steel-framed cars, while weighing up to 65% less.

It should be no surprise, then, that carbon fiber is trickling down – especially in car markets, like the US, that are beginning to require lighter, more fuel-efficient cars that are still capable of passing tough safety tests. At the moment, the LFA is the only Toyota using the material in a high percentage of its parts. The company’s carbon fiber looms, however, won’t pay for themselves laying idle – especially now that Toyota has pulled out of Formula 1. You can get a sense of how those work in the video, below, and start getting ready for lighter, more fuel-efficient Camrys that are stronger and safer than the ones you see today.

Source: Motorpasion.

Ford and Dow Team Up to Bring Low-Cost, High-Volume Carbon Fiber Composites to Next-Generation Vehicles

PRESS RELEASE

• Weight reductions of up to 750 pounds on future Ford vehicles are key to meeting fuel economy and electric vehicle range targets
• Ford and Dow engineers and researchers will combine efforts to develop low-cost carbon fiber and component-level manufacturing processes

DEARBORN, Mich., April 12, 2012 – Cutting the weight of new cars and trucks by up to 750 pounds by the end of the decade is a key component of Ford's strategy to improve fuel efficiency. In order to help achieve that goal, Ford Motor Company is partnering with Dow Automotive Systems, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, to research the use of advanced carbon fiber composites in high-volume vehicles.

"There are two ways to reduce energy use in vehicles: improving the conversion efficiency of fuels to motion and reducing the amount of work that powertrains need to do," said Paul Mascarenas, Ford chief technical officer and vice president, Research and Innovation. "Ford is tackling the conversion problem primarily through downsizing engines with EcoBoost® and electrification while mass reduction and improved aerodynamics are keys to reducing the workload."

Ford is investigating a range of new materials, enhanced design processes and new manufacturing techniques that would enable automotive structures to meet increasingly stringent safety and quality standards while cutting weight.

"Vehicle weight reduction for our customers through intelligent design with a materials focus has been a priority for Dow Automotive Systems," said Florian Schattenmann, director of Research and Development for Dow Automotive Systems. "This partnership with Ford on carbon fiber composites is a logical next step to progress already achieved through the use of lightweight, high-strength polymers and structural bonding technology."

Carbon fiber composites have been used in aerospace and racing cars for decades due to their unique combination of high strength and low mass. Until recently these materials have been far too costly for use in high-volume mainstream applications.

Dow Automotive Systems and Ford have signed a joint development agreement that will see researchers from the two companies collaborate on several fronts. The development teams will focus on establishing an economical source of automotive-grade carbon fiber and develop component manufacturing methods for high-volume automotive applications.

The partnership will seek to combine the best of Ford's capabilities and experience in design, engineering and high-volume vehicle production with Dow Automotive's strengths in R&D, materials science and high-volume polymer processing.

"Reducing weight will benefit the efficiency of every Ford vehicle," added Mascarenas. "However, it's particularly critical to improving the range of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles."

The joint development effort will also leverage work that The Dow Chemical Company has already begun through partnerships with Turkish carbon fiber manufacturer AKSA and the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

If the joint development effort is successful, carbon fiber components may begin appearing on new Ford vehicles in the latter part of this decade as product development teams work toward meeting new fuel efficiency standards of more than 50 mpg and extending the range of plug-in vehicles.

Volvo Gets Clever: Body Panels as Batteries

PRESS RELEASE:

Tomorrow’s Volvo car: body panels serve as the car battery

Imagine a car whose body also serves as a rechargeable battery. A battery that stores braking energy while you drive and that also stores energy when you plug in the car overnight to recharge. At the moment this is just a fascinating idea, but tests are currently under way to see if the vision can be transformed into reality. Volvo Cars is one out of nine participants in an international materials development project.

Among the foremost challenges in the development of hybrids and electric cars are the size, weight and cost of the current generation of batteries. In order to deliver sufficient capacity using today’s technology, it is necessary to fit large batteries, which in turn increases the car’s weight.

Earlier this year, a materials development project was launched by Imperial College in London that brings together nine European companies and institutes. Volvo Cars is the only car manufacturer participating in the project. With the help of 35 million SEK (approx. 3.5 million EURO) in financial support from the European Union (EU), a composite blend of carbon fibres and polymer resin is being developed that can store and charge more energy faster than conventional batteries can. At the same time, the material is extremely strong and pliant, which means it can be shaped for use in building the car’s body panels. According to calculations, the car’s weight could be cut by as much as 15 percent if steel body panels were replaced with the new material.

Volvo Cars contributes its expertise
The project will continue for three years. In the first stage, work focuses both on developing the composite material so it can store more energy and on studying ways of producing the material on an industrial scale. Only in the final stage will the battery be fitted to a car.

“Our role is to contribute expertise on how this technology can be integrated in the future and to input ideas about the advantages and disadvantages in terms of cost and user-friendliness,” says Per-Ivar Sellergren, development engineer at the Volvo Cars Materials Centre.

Initially, the car’s spare wheel recess will be converted into a composite battery.
“This is a relatively large structure that is easy to replace. Not sufficiently large to power the entire car, but enough to switch the engine off and on when the car is at a standstill, for instance at traffic lights,” says Per-Ivar Sellergren.

Immense interest in the project
Many people have visited the Imperial College website, which contains information about the project, and have seen the video on YouTube. Per-Ivar reads the visitor comments with immense interest.
“Almost daily I read new ideas about how this technology could be used or further developed. The potential is enormous and it’s great that so many people are interested,” he says.

If the project is successful, there are many possible application areas. For instance, mobile phones will be able to be as slim as credit cards and laptops will manage longer without needing to be recharged.