Carbon fiber has long been touted as the material for tomorrow’s fastest cars. The ultra-light material consists of carbon atoms bonded together in a crystal alignment which makes it extremely strong and yet lightweight. It can withstand great amounts of heat in accelerated speeds and the low volume can mean better pickup for vehicles. Therefore, it seems to be the perfect answer to make sturdy and suave futuristic racing cars with lightning speed.

Innovation and efforts have been constantly directed toward tapping carbon fiber’s potential in car making and the results are finally apparent with cars such as Australia’s WEST LMP4

Teaming up with 3MB Co.Ltd for its entire composite parts – the Autralian sport racer car is a fine example of a fully carbon, ultra light and robust machine on wheels!

Features of the new WEST LMP4

• Feather Light at only 400 kg, can reach to a jaw dropping speed of 300km/h
• Ingenious Design
• High Quality Material – Foam cores, aluminium, honeycomb and carbon fiber composites used at their best by the West team engineers

The process behind the creation of the tailor-made Molded Parts

3 MB has always been committed to innovation and R&D in various industries like automotive, aviation, industrial, furniture, marines, luxury marketing, construction (Carbon fiber wrap concrete repair works), oil and gas, over the last 5 years. And, this has allowed us to gain the expertise and experience in creating molded parts for a range of applications.

By collaborating closely with WEST, the masters and molds were created using epoxy, foam cores fiber glass etc.

The different parts were born out of our CNC machines – but we believe a finishing for the perfect shape could only have been achieved through an “artist’s touch”!

Next, the technical molded carbon fiber parts were used by draping carbon fiber fabric over a mold and infusing it with epoxy resin. All the parts are made with 100% carbon fiber best quality in the market and vacuum infused with epoxy resin and autoclave machine.

Finally, the press machine has been used following the different parts. To get completed parts they were cut, drilled, polished and gel coated.

Overall, each step was undertaken with immense care and dedication, followed by strict quality control process, before finalizing in adherence to our golden sample to validate the picking process.

The End-Results

Introducing the WEST LMP4 – The fruits of the unfailing efforts is apparent in the grandeur that the agile sports racer car.

Shed some weight, gain more speed, add more style, easy assembling, comfortable drive!

Are we ready to see this beauty zipping through the race tracks? Fasten your seatbelts, as this is only the beginning.

Carbon fiber composites have been replacing metals in various industries where lightweight is essential for fuel efficiency. Therefore, it seems to be the next big thing in the automotive world, that can be used in building more lightweight, fuel efficient cars in future by bringing the best of the both worlds to the table with strength and weight advantage. And, with high volume carbon fiber manufacturing soon to become a reality – it can soon replace steel as the material of choice for future cars.

Unlike other industries where it has been extensively adopted like aérospatial, mass production is a huge requirement in the automotive industry where the challenge for carbon fiber lies. But, with efforts being directed towards creating mixes of carbon fiber and plastic, the manufacturing processes can significantly be simplified and manufacturers can look beyond just the most common applications of carbon fiber to cash in on its advantages.

Uses of Carbon Fiber in the Automotive Industry: Where does it stand now?

Key to Lightweight Construction

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) finds the greatest use in high end automobiles and supercars. The material has a very high strength-to-weight ratio and is essentially carbon fiber bounded by polymer such as epoxy resin. The density is as low as 1.6g/cc, which makes it extremely lightweight as opposed to steel without compromising on strength.

The major advantage of lightweight builds of cars is the gain in fuel efficiency and a 10% reduction is weight can save up to 6-8% of fuel in automobiles. With economical fuel consumption rapidly becoming the focus, CFRP as a material is the need of the day.

Automakers like BMV, Lambourghini and Mercedes- Benz are working towards the increased use carbon fiber in their vehicles.

Parts and Components

Initially, high-end cars, supercars and expensive racing models were the ones incorporate carbon fiber in smaller parts and components to gain speed advantages. Currently, with automakers realizing the benefits of using composite materials, the usage has increased drastically and there are cars which use carbon fiber in their body construction as well. The 2011 Z06 Carbon Limited Edition Corvette by automaker Chevrolet, incorporates a carbon fiber hood, along with roof panels, rocker panels and air splitters. Even wheels are being made with carbon fiber elements as it contributes towards faster acceleration and better control.

More recently, the McLaren 570S features a full carbon body and weight just over 3,150 lbs.

Feels Light and Looks Sleeker! -

Better performance might be the major goal of lightweight construction but carbon fiber does that without compromising on looks. With the benefit of quick accelerations and higher top speeds, the material adds a smoother and sleeker touch to the appearances of the automobiles. For this reason, several cosmetic applications of the material is also being made. The significantly talked about material, has found great demand due to its eye catching abilities and its high performance functions that consumers are so fascinated with.

Carbon Fiber and Electric Vehicles

The emerging new breed of electric cars have their heavy reliance on carbon fiber components. As it backs fuel efficiency and increased battery life, it perfectly suits the objectives the electric car industry is going for. Both technologies are forward looking and can benefit by complementing each other. Not to mention their selling point of being futuristic are perfectly streamlined.

BMW’s i8 and i3 have all-carbon bodies to reduce weight, while other electric car models like the Volkswagen e-Golf have extensively adopted composite materials in their make.

The Future of Carbon Fiber in the Automotive Industry: Where are we headed?

We are looking at a much widespread use of composite materials in the coming years. It might have started out as the preferred material for high-performance cars only, but trends point at a more widespread adoption of carbon fiber in the coming years, even in mass market cars. Not only the most expensive cars, but also mass produced low-end cars shall be looking towards composite material components as soon as high-volume production at lower costs becomes a reality through faster manufacturing processes. The shift was first seen with BMW launching its i3 in the mass market segment. The small electric model, i3 has been revolutionary in providing a glimpse into what can be achieved through use of composite material and has opened up numerous possibilities.

Lux Research’s projections show that the CFRP market in the automotive industry shall rise up to a whopping $6 billion in 2020, and the figures might even be higher in actuality. As car companies intend to use more carbon fiber in body panels, the demand is forever on the rise. The performance of existing cars using composite material components have proved their absolute advantage in speed and fuel efficiency as well as strength to withstand in crash conditions.

With price reduction as the only prerogative, we can expect to see a widespread use of carbon fiber in cars, for all kinds of parts. Earlier, what the automakers would have to achieve through reduction of parts, now can be easily achieved through use of carbon fiber. And, with continuous advances in carbon fiber technology, soon we might large scale use of it in mainstream automobiles.