Composites Featured Prominently at 2018 North American International Auto Show

Jan. 22, 2018 | Source: Composites Manufacturing

For composite manufacturers and suppliers to the automotive industry, the annual North American International Auto Show in Detroit is the Holy Grail. This year, there has been no shortage of composites innovation on the show floor, as many models on display prominently featured FRP.

BMW has used the show as the platform to debut its newly upgraded i8 Coupe and X2. The Coupe isn’t drastically different from when it debuted in 2014 as the first mid-engine car to offer a carbon fiber passenger cell. In addition to its composite passenger cell, the new Coupe features a new CFRP windscreen frame that helps reduce the vehicle’s overall weight.

Alongside the BMW’s new models was its i8 Roadster, which debuted in December at the Los Angeles Auto Show. As it does for the Coupe, the single-piece carbon fiber passenger cell contributes to the vehicle’s rigidity and dynamics.

Ford displayed the 2018 Raptor, which featured both exterior and internal composite components. The OEM also used the show to tease the 2019 release of its Mustang Shelby® GT500® with its 700-plus horsepower. The preview video for the speed demon reveals a carbon fiber front splitter and a Ford GT-style spoiler. Given its production history with the GT350, the GT500 could also potentially feature carbon fiber wheels.

The show was also an opportunity for manufacturers and suppliers to display new products and technology. For the second straight year, NAIAS featured AutoMobili-D – an area dedicated to startups. One of the 57 startups at AutoMobili-D was Vartega – a developer of low-cost recycled carbon fiber. Vartega’s carbon fiber is also used for vehicle lightweighting to improve fuel economy, increase electric vehicle range, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the highlights from AutoMobili was Vartega’s 3-D printing of a miniature carbon fiber seat for Recaro Automotive Seating.

Recaro also made waves on its own, as NAIAS sponsor and exhibitor Adient unveiled two applications of the all-new Recaro Performance Seat Platform (RPSP). One of those applications was a demonstrator with a visible, carbon fiber-braided backrest structure. With its ultra-slim RPSP design, Recaro Automotive Seating is generating more space for vehicle interiors, provided by the body-shaped composite seat structure and Adient’s thin IntelliTech™ foam. The technology helps reduce weight up to 40 percent.

The company also unveiled its new limited-edition aftermarket shell seat Recaro Pole Position SL (street-legal) – a slim, one-piece shell seat made of GFRP. The shell weighs about 7 kilograms (without side mount and base frame), which makes it the lightest street legal shell seat in the world.

Another eye-catching seat was the 2018 Lincoln Continental’s “Perfect Position Seat.” The seat features GFRP materials from BASF that contributed to a 20 percent weight reduction for the seat pan when compared to its metal predecessor.