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.
Exhaust Electricity For Efficiency Gains
Thermo electrics produce electricity when they are heated and what better way to use them on a car than by applying them to the hot bits of the engine, like the exhaust.
Since the internal combustion engine uses around 30 per cent of the energy burnt for the powering the car, the rest goes to waste therefore the potential for recovery is great.
Researchers at the Ohio State University and California Institute of Technology claim to have developed a way of improving fuel efficiency by 10 per cent through the use of thermoelectric materials. They claim that the material would be ready between five to ten years and can cost as little as USD 10 per car of produced in a large enough quantity. If the material produces enough electricity from exhaust heat, we may see future cars that do not need to have heavy alternators weighting it down and dragging the engine.
Thermo electrics are already in use in compact refrigerators. Just as heat can help produce electricity, the material can also absorb heat when electric current runs through it.
