Could carbon fiber be the key to fuel economy?
Corvette ZR1 will test carbon fiberGM will use the Corvette ZR1 to study the feasibility of carbon fiber in hopes that it will lead to an increase in demand for the material and, therefore, cheaper production costs.
"Carbon is one-fifth the weight of a composite, which is half the weight of steel," says Tom Wallace, vehicle line executive for the Chevrolet Corvette, Cadillac XLR, Pontiac Solstice, Saturn Sky and Opel/Vauxhall GT. "Although carbon fiber is expensive today, so was aluminum in the beginning, so was magnesium in the beginning."
Labels: carbon fiber
posted by Dahcredyns at
6:31 AM
2 Comments:
This is great news. More automakers need to be exploring carbon fiber as a solution to fuel economy.
While I'm not arguing against hybrid technology, or any alternative powertrain technology, it's weight that is critical to fuel efficiency.
Carbon fiber could revolutionize the automobile in terms of weight.
Yes, I know its expensive, but just like any technology, the more you make it, the cheap it becomes.
Are there other automakers also doing this?
Toyota is and I'm sure others will follow suit - I hope.
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