Lightweighting

[malcolm]

Various items:

Institution of Mechanical Engineers

The Disputed Cost of Light, Strong Cars - Beyond the Barrel (usnews.com)

CLAMP - DOE/GATE

 

[malcolm]

Another step?

Honda and Nissan working to mass-market carbon fiber - Autoblog

 

[malcolm]

Another setback?

Manufacturers raise the price of carbon fiber - Autoblog

 

[dpeilow]

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has a lot to answer for :frown:. We saw this filtering through already in the satellite market.

I already expect this has a lot to do with the cost increase on the Roadster so brace yourselves for more.

It also probably has a lot to do with the choice of Aluminium on the Model S.

 

[malcolm]

The search continues...

http://www.global-automotive-lightweight-materials.com/4/agenda/23/agenda/

And some useful update info here:

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/manufacturing/docs/news_lux_insight.pdf

Apparently $5/lb to $7/lb is the magic target for the widespread use of carbon fibre-based composities in automotive applications