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Ford is getting religion when it comes to light-weighting its vehicles. The company has entered into a new partnership with Dow Chemical to develop carbon fiber that can be manufactured at affordable prices for high-volume applications. That, of course, is the holy grail of weight reduction, which is why other manufacturers like General Motors are also partnering with suppliers to try and achieve the same ends.
Now before you get too excited about the carbon-fiber Mustang in the photos, understand that it was just a limited-production car shown at SEMA in 2009, and it carried a price tag of $135,000. That's the problem with carbon fiber parts - they are expensive because they are much more difficult to manufacture in volume than steel.
But if Ford and other carmakers are going to achieve the sorts of fuel economy improvements required by new regulations, they're going to have to either scale carbon fiber or dramatically shrink the size of most vehicles. Ford says it's targeting a 750-pound weight reduction per vehicle by the end of the decade.
Scroll down to read the full press release.Continue reading Ford, Dow Chemical partner on carbon fiber composites, hope to shed up to 750 pounds
Ford, Dow Chemical partner on carbon fiber composites, hope to shed up to 750 pounds originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ford is getting religion when it comes to light-weighting its vehicles. The company has entered into a new partnership with Dow Chemical to develop carbon fiber that can be manufactured at affordable prices for high-volume applications. That, of course, is the holy grail of weight reduction, which is why other manufacturers like General Motors are also partnering with suppliers to try and achieve the same ends.
Now before you get too excited about the carbon-fiber Mustang in the photos, understand that it was just a limited-production car shown at SEMA in 2009, and it carried a price tag of $135,000. That's the problem with carbon fiber parts - they are expensive because they are much more difficult to manufacture in volume than steel.
But if Ford and other carmakers are going to achieve the sorts of fuel economy improvements required by new regulations, they're going to have to either scale carbon fiber or dramatically shrink the size of most vehicles. Ford says it's targeting a 750-pound weight reduction per vehicle by the end of the decade.
Scroll down to read the full press release.Continue reading Ford, Dow Chemical partner on carbon fiber composites, hope to shed up to 750 pounds
Ford, Dow Chemical partner on carbon fiber composites, hope to shed up to 750 pounds originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
More...