Toyota to Use Carbon Fiber and Aluminium in its 1/X Concept Hybrid Car
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 10.25.07
In a bid to claim an early sales lead over its rivals as the car industry's focus shifts towards the production of ever lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles, Toyota will begin using carbon fiber and aluminum in its next generation of hybrid cars. Its 1/X concept vehicle, which many see as the logical successor to the Prius, will weigh 67% less than its progenitor and come equipped with a 92 mpg fuel economy - due in large part to its lighter, carbon fiber body. It will run on a blend of ethanol/gasoline and electricity.
Sounds impressive, but some aren't convinced: "Carbon fiber is a technology for the future, but it's going to take years of work before the carmakers can use it for mass production," said Koji Endo, a senior analyst at Credit Suisse, attributing his pessimism largely to the material's high expense (100 times more expensive than steel). Sage Marie, a Honda spokeswoman, also cast doubts on the plan by emphasizing that switching to the new material would require carmakers to revamp their entire auto-assembly lines, a costly process that could take years.
Toray Industries, Japan's largest carbon fiber manufacturer, plans on expanding its operations by investing close to $175 million in a new research center and plant that would exclusively make the material for cars.
Another alternative to steel that carmakers have been turning to is aluminium, which is about 33% lighter. Mazda will soon put on display a new rotary engine substituting aluminum for steel in its side housings; it expects to introduce the engine by the early 2010s as an integral component of its new lines of more fuel-efficient vehicles. For its part, Mitsubishi will unveil its sleek new aluminum-based i-MiEV Sport - an all-electric concept - at this week's Tokyo Motor Show.
We can't wait to see these come to market.
Via ::Bloomberg: Toyota Cuts Test Car's Weight to Win Sales as Fuel Prices Rise (news website)
See also: ::Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid In The Lead (Apparently), ::Toyota's Hybrid X Could Be The New Prius
Like I'd seriously expect a banker in Switzerland to know his stuff about advanced manufacturing processes he's probably never even seen in action.
And of course other car makers are going to shoot arrows.
Go Toyota!
This Toray industries keeps popping up in advanced transportation. Aren't they the sole makers of the carbon bodies for the new Boeing Dreamliner? One of the key aspects that makes that plane much more efficient than the older planes. Now they are going to start manufacturing exclusively for Toyota? It looks like this company has a rosy future.
I believe one factor contributing to the cost of carbon fiber is the energy used to cure it at very high temperatures. I've been wondering what the footprint of carbon fiber is. Anyone know the details behind the process?
There are only two manufacturers of carbon fiber, both are pushed beyond production means as of present due to US government purchases and the new boeing airliner. This has pushed the prices of carbon fiber into an extreme high and it is very hard to come by unless your one of the two stated above. There are new production plants that are supposed to be opening, but they wont be ready for production until the end of next year. Don't expect this to happen any time soon. Besides the chemicals used to make the carbon fiber and the resin used to make the composite body will probably do more harm to the environment then the lifespan of a hybrid could offset.
There are aspects of this car that are still just plain ol' Toyota greenwashing. Ethanol? Terrible. And do you think this technology will make it into normal Toyota models? No, it won't. Toyota is planning on selling only three hybrids in the future and leaving the rest gas - they will be variations on a plugin Prius. You cannot be environmentally friendly if you are selling 20 mpg cars, even if you are selling 100 mpg cars at the same time.
Car companies need to take a page out of Aptera's book and implement some of the strategies for fuel efficiency that that company uses. I know not everyone wants to drive something that looks like that, but can't we do better than a world filled with heavy behemoths getting less than 20 mpg?
" And do you think this technology will make it into normal Toyota models? No, it won't. "
Honda already use(ed) aluminum in the Insight, so it's not unthinkable that Toyota might use it too. Carbon fiber is available as after market parts for light weight hoods (mostly used by those street racing...) os it's not that unlikely that automakers could make some body parts out of carbon fiber to reduce weight.
" You cannot be environmentally friendly if you are selling 20 mpg cars, even if you are selling 100 mpg cars at the same time."
This shows where the problem lies, with the consumers CHOICES! I could walk into any dealership in the US and make a BAD choice, or a BETTER CHOICE in terms of gas mileage. Blame the automakers all you want, but the problem is with the consumers.
"Besides the chemicals used to make the carbon fiber and the resin used to make the composite body will probably do more harm to the environment then the lifespan of a hybrid could offset."
Yeah, because mining and smelting iron and steel is SUCH a green process.
And more on point, it sounds like Toyota is going to advance the state of the art once again while everyone else is telling each other why it's not going to work.
I think I'm going to put some more money in Toyota stock.
Toyota already sells carbon fiber engine covers for its cars like the corolla so I would think they know about manufacturing it.
*cough*
Audi A2 - all aluminium, 66mpg, emissions about the same as a Prius. Cheaper. Not butt ugly.
Good luck recycling carbon fibre.
the chemicals used to make the carbon fiber and the resin used to make the composite body will probably do more harm to the environment then the lifespan of a hybrid
That's great! Add a few solar panels to your Hybrid cars and we'll be set for the future!