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Carmakers looking to plastic to shave weight

 
2 430 views Feb 18, 2008

Carmakers looking to plastic to shave weight

Carmakers looking to plastic to shave weight

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If you’re aren’t a fan of cars made with plastics and composite materials then the future isn’t looking too rosy because the next-generation of vehicles are going to feature lots more of the lightweight stuff and in places you wouldn’t normally expect to find it. Carmakers are desperate to improve the fuel-efficiency of their vehicles while at the same time lower production costs and one of the easiest ways to do this is to manufacture more parts out of plastic.

A recent study has found that carmakers can reduce the weight of components by about 40 to 50% by switching from metal to composite construction. Some of the key components that could be replaced with plastic alternatives include car panels, packaging and binding material for lithium ion batteries plus hoses and tanks for fuel.

Chrysler is one carmaker in talks with a number of strategic suppliers about developing new parts for its future range of electric and advanced hybrid vehicles. Those suppliers include battery makers as well as groups that can guide Chrysler on composite body structures to cut weight, one official revealed to Automotive News. Other new materials carmakers are investigating include soy-based urethane foams, which can be used for vehicle interiors. GM is another carmakers seriously considering making materials like carbon-fiber mainstream.

America’s new CAFE regulations is making the biggest impact in the industry and will eventually force all carmakers to change the design of their cars. Carmakers must look at every option in their search to boost mileage and one of the cheapest and most cost effective methods is proving to be using more plastic.



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Comments (2)

  1. By Roy Posted: 2/18/2008 3:46pm PST

    This is hardly news. Saturn used to make all their cars with lightweight bodywork. It was a bit of a disaster, since it did not benefit the customer much and they perceived the product to be of inferior quality. Audi has had a little more success with the A8, using Aluminium to shave off a considerable amount of bodyweight, but the A8 is still enormous and its buyers are not the sort of people who will pay attention to an extra mile per gallon.
    The use of (expensive) lightweight technologies only makes sense if the carmakers can deliver on their promises. I think they should take a leaf out of Lotus' book and start with small lightweight sportscars (goodness knows that the Pontiac Solstice could lose a few pounds) and then trickle the technology into economy cars. At least those buyers are comfortable with the idea of making compromises like spending a little more to get better handling/economy.
     
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  2. By rnsaza Posted: 2/19/2008 11:57am PST

    Roy, do you mean in the way that BMW has introduced AL, CF and other plastics to its performance & regular ranges? From what I understand BMW bought a composites factory and is constantly developing ways to make more components from these materials. Remember scale of economies, the more parts you can make bla bla bla. Renault also use a type of plastic for its front fenders, for safety mostly but also convenience and economy.
     
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