Carbon composite car
British firm Axon Automotive has combined a 500cc engine with a low-weight body to create an affordable 100mpg carbon composite passenger car.
The company has replaced the steel or aluminium traditionally used for vehicle frames, with recycled carbon fibre composites, which are as strong as steel, but 60 per cent lighter. Using carbon materials throughout the car body has a huge impact on the power-to-weight ratio, it means acceptable overall performance can be achieved with a much smaller, lighter and more frugal engine.
The lightness and strength of carbon fibre has been recognised for a long time, however, the cost of production has hindered its route into the mainstream. Axon has overcome this by patenting a low-cost carbon-composite mass manufacturing process the company plans to use when it takes its idea to market.
The process involves braiding carbon fibre ‘ropes’ over a foam core, which is then injected with epoxy. Axon believes this quick and easy process will eventually make carbon composites cheaper than the aluminium counterparts.
Axon plans to launch its first carbon composite passenger car in 2010.
Read more on: Automotive, carbon, composite, Design, vehicle
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