Japanese Firms Developing Carbon Fibre for Mass Production Cards
Carbon fibre is usually considered as exotic material used for really expensive cars or in racing machines where cost is less important than weight saving. However, as the world faces record oil prices, pressure for more economical cars are increasing and one of the best ways to make more fuel-efficient cars is by making then lighter.
Since most people are used to the current size of cars that they are using, manufacturers will not be able to introduce smaller cars in the name of fuel economy, so the race is on for lighter building materials. Aluminum is already used extensively now focused on carbon fibre as the automotive construction of the future.
During last year 2007, Tokyo Motor Show, a few Japanese carmakers showed off their all-carbon fibre car construction and indicated a certain eagerness to explore the possibility of a mass-produced model. Recently, Today Industries, the biggest carbon fibre producer in Japan and Mitsubishi Rayon announced a close cooperation with Honda and Nissan to produce a new kind of low-cost carbon fibre.
According to the Japanese media, the Government will provide USD20 million in funding over the next five years of the project and the goal is to mass produce the material by the mid 2010s and reduce vehicle weight by 40 per cent compared to current models.
