Carbon fiber fabric. Image: Erik Charlton
Carbon fiber is incredibly light, incredibly strong and also incredibly expensive. The materials used to make carbon fiber components aren’t particularly rare or pricey, but the conventional manufacturing process is labor intensive, requiring specialized industrial equipment to produce light but strong parts. There have been recent breakthroughs in material science, such as the carbon composites developed between Boeing, the University of Washington and Lamborghini, but these are still priced beyond practical implementation in the average family sedan.
That may change in the coming years. General Motors has announced a partnership with a Japanese company, Teijin, who has already developed an advanced, carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. As Motor Authority explains, the two companies will focus their efforts on developing both new carbon composites and new manufacturing processes to lower the cost of finished components. To achieve this goal, Teijin will set up a Composites Application Center in the United States in early 2012.
The company’s existing technology allows production of carbon-fiber-reinforced components in minutes, rather than the hours it typically takes to produce parts using carbon fiber cloth and resin. By making production more cost-effective, GM and Teijin hope to be able to introduce carbon fiber components into mainstream GM products in the coming years.
Image credit: Erik Charlton, Creative Commons 2.0
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
