Carbon-fiber is seen by many in the auto industry as one of the most effective ways of reducing vehicle weight and improve fuel economy and emissions levels, but the relative expense of the material means that it’s still reserved for only a handful of high-end production cars. BMW has effectively used carbon-fiber roofs for its M cars to help lower the center of gravity, and Nissan and GM have used the composite material to help save weight for the GT-R and ZR1 supercars.
For most carmakers, mainstream carbon-fiber use is still several years away but a number of Japanese firms, including carbon-specialists Toray Industries and Mitsubishi Rayon, are working closely with Nissan and Honda to develop a new carbon-fiber material for use in mass-produced cars.
According to the Nikkei, the Japanese government will also provide close to $20 million over the next five years for the project. The final goal is to be able to mass produce the material by the mid-2010s and to make vehicles 40% lighter than current models.
Toray currently supplies Nissan with carbon-fiber for its GT-R, 350Z and Infiniti G35 and G37 models.
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