- General Motors on Thursday said it is hooking up with Teijin Ltd. of Japan to bring the use of carbon fiber to mainstream vehicles.
- GM said the deal "holds the potential to be an industry game-changer."
- The expensive composite currently is used mainly on high-end vehicles like the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.
DETROIT — General Motors on Thursday said it is hooking up with Teijin Ltd. of Japan to bring the use of carbon fiber to mainstream vehicles.
GM said in a statement that the deal "holds the potential to be an industry game changer."
GM did not specify which of its vehicles would be the first to get carbon-fiber parts.
The GM and Teijin deal is designed to co-develop advanced carbon-fiber composite technologies for "potential high-volume use globally in GM cars, trucks and crossovers," said the automaker. The use of carbon fiber could have a major impact on boosting fuel economy across the GM lineup.
The expensive composite currently is used mainly on high-end vehicles like the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, which ranges in price from $75,325 to $76,500. The aluminum frame, carbon-fiber fenders and floor panels on the Z06 make it the lightest Corvette ever, with a curb weight of 3,199 pounds.
Carbon fiber is expensive because of a time-consuming and labor-intensive production process.
GM said that Teijin's technology allows it to mass-produce carbon-fiber composites using thermoplastic material in "under a minute."
Teijin is opening a technical center in the U.S. in early 2012 as part of the effort to bring carbon-fiber parts to everyday vehicles.
The GM announcement follows on the heels of BMW's pledge to begin high-volume production of carbon-fiber parts by 2013.
Inside Line says: Your humble Chevrolet Cruze or Malibu may soon have carbon-fiber parts that used to be seen only on expensive Corvettes.
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carsgalore says:
08:55 AM, 12/15/2011
@tsdriver27 says:
11:04 AM, 12/09/2011
Wow, Japanese parts in an American car... should upset a few folks...
I get the feeling I know exactly who you are referring to! LOL
On a different note, this is great because CF is a greatway to reduce weight. Bad news is like someone else mentioned is the production costs. either way, Good Job GM.
zr1man says:
08:29 PM, 12/12/2011
I really like carbon fiber on a car. My 2010 ZR1 has a lot of carbon fiber in it. I believe there is a big future for it in the automotive industry. I'm sure it can be used in other applications as well.
nwng says:
01:35 PM, 12/12/2011
I thought all the hop up evos, wrxs have cf hoods. joking aside, I've seen one of these specimen in a head-on crash, the cf hood cannot dissipate the force from the crash and half the engine got pushed into the cabin
nwng says:
01:35 PM, 12/12/2011
I thought all the hop up evos, wrxs have cf hoods. joking aside, I've seen one of these specimen in a head-on crash, the cf hood cannot dissipate the force from the crash and half the engine got pushed into the cabin
scott230 says:
08:33 AM, 12/12/2011
SGL Carbon fiber company in germany may be a good investment opportunity as BMW is a joint venture with them. Audi and MB are very interested also but Audi already leads the way with so many of their cars with aluminum space frames and parts. Aluminum and carbon fiber are better at absorbing impacts vs steel.(Steel and especially steel frames transmit all the energy to the passenger compartment, which is not good)
scott230 says:
08:16 AM, 12/12/2011
BMW is really leading the carbon fiber movement especially with the i vehicles coming out.
angry_mushroom says:
12:47 AM, 12/11/2011
I wonder what this will do for repair costs for a fender bender. Either way. I'm all for lighter, more fuel efficient cars.
rpvitiello says:
12:11 AM, 12/11/2011
pommah
Driving slow did nothing in the long term to save fuel, people simply started buying big poor performing SUV's. If the speed limits did not become so low, and americans were actually taught how to drive, the whole fuel guzzling SUV craze may of never happened. People would of preferred better handeling and breaking cars for high speed highway runs, vs slow lumbering giants.
Why should I be punished and forced to drive a ridiculously slow 55mph on a interstate highway because people insist on buying poor economy SUV's for daily drivers?
Also speed limits are not designed to be a speed control device, they are meant to tell you what speed the road was designed to carry traffic at. (Interstates in the US are engineered to move traffic at a minimum of 70mph if it meets current federal design standards) You can actually have no posted speed limit, and the designed speed is how fast most people will drive. If you want people to truly drive slower, you need to rip out all the current highway, and re-design it to handle traffic at 55mph instead of 70mph.
You then have the lost economic factor. If everyone truly drove slower you are talking about trillions of dollars in lost productivity. People who have long distance commutes could see a dramatic increase in time they spend in the car going to and from work, and far less time to spend at work actually making money, or at home with family.
As it is the US has some of the most ridiculously low speed limits in the first world, even though it has a very low population density compared to many countries.
akula1 says:
05:01 PM, 12/10/2011
I wonder what Zr1man is going to do if his dad trades up for a new CF Jap Vette.
financeman2 says:
07:30 AM, 12/10/2011
Pommah....Driving slower may indeed save a lot of fuel; at some point it simply requires a certain amount of energy to move weight and overcome drag coefficients. That said, returning to the days of 55mph limits gives me incredible pause. That was a nightmare and did little but line the coffers of states and municipalities who took great efforts to catch all of the wicked speeders. Cars today are far safer, drive better at higher speeds, and are more efficient. I live in the great plains and distances can be long and time consuming. There is not subway or bus service get me where I need to go. I certainly hope carbon fiber can provide a way to further improve efficiency as part of an overall effort to improve fuel mileage.