Posted on 07/17/2008 4:54:18 PM PDT by Reaganesque
July 17, 2008 Britain's Axon claims that its newly patented mass-production techniques will make carbon composite car frames and bodywork even cheaper than their metal counterparts - and only 40% as heavy. What a revolutionary technology this could be - the power to weight ratio of any vehicle on the planet could be dramatically increased for no extra cost! The company plans to release a highly affordable 500cc Review-of-Three-Wheeled-Vehicles Mar-08 
passenger car making at least 100mpg from a basic petrol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline engine in 2010, and Axon is confident its simple, lightweight solution to the fuel economy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_efficiency challenge will be highly competitive against the big competition in the Progressive Automotive X-Prize contest.
It's been common knowledge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_knowledge for decades the carbon-fiber composites offer the strength of steel with only a fraction of the weight - but they're still viewed as exotic materials because of the high cost of traditional manufacturing techniques. And since it's been cheaper and more marketable to boost engine power Multiple-Personality-Cars than to look at making lighter cars, most manufacturers have stuck with steel and aluminum.
But carbon fiber specialists at Axon believe their new mass-manufacturing process can make carbon fiber frames and bodywork even cheaper than their metal counterparts. To back up their claims, they company plans to release this 2-seater, 500cc passenger car in 2010 at "an affordable price" - and they're aiming for more than 100 mpg from a simple, small 500cc engine, simply because it will be so light.
If Axon, which presented displayed its platform as part of the FoS-Tech pavilion at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, can prove that carbon composites can be as cheap and reliable as steel or aluminum, the same technology could generate massive efficiency increases in cars from other manufacturers around the world - although the cost of switching over from metal could prove a killer for established automakers. Still, while the average buyer is still more likely to pay extra for a more powerful car than a more efficient one, a technological advance of this kind could mean a huge increase in performance for no extra price - and that's the sort of thing car buyers will respond to.
More from our friends at Transport 2.0.
On the other hand, the carbon fiber chassis in F1 and Indy cars are amazingly strong and safe. They are able to absorb a head-on 150mph impact into a wall without allowing intrusion into the passenger compartment while still keeping G loadings in a survivable range.
Racing bike frames give away all margins for error in the quest for light weight. A little too much torque in an unexpected direction can tear apart the frame.
How will it work in a street car? It will all depend on the design and the budget.
*snort* Mellow Yellow!
Is that more of a function of the weight or the aerodynamics?
I think it's all in the design. My worry is that a carbon fiber car won't be repairable. One crash and your car is totaled.
I have worked with carbon-carbon composites and they truly are amazing. A little piece of thin-walled tubing exactly the size of one of those cardboard cores used in toilet paper rolls cannot be broken by someone jumping up and down on them yet they weigh nearly nothing.
But carbon/resin is a different story, and there have been delaminations in aircraft, as well as the bicycle failures.
A race car is not really made with a strict budget. But let's look at the Big Three Accountants' goals that begin with "If we can save a nickel on a million cars, we will gain $50,000."
I think we all know where that leads! It leads to places like my wife's injection molded plastic radiator fan that just blew up, taking an $800 radiator with it. (Jaguar)
Examples abound, like Ford's injection molded front end parts used in my Taurus. Plastic control arms!
Now let's extend this to what would happen when the bean counters got ahold of a carbon/resin product! They'd probably use Elmer's Glue-All™ if they could get away with it and get it off the showroom floor before it rained!
Then there is the Enviro-squealing. Making carbon fibre not only requires a lot of energy, it also producse nasty pyrolysis products and can involve nasty chemicals.
So this company's "News"/Press release is probably not going to appear in anyone's driveway.
They might be better off using the sawdust/phenolic horror that the Trabant used! (ROFL)
Well if does pan out, you know algore will take credit. What a man..... invented the internet and a 100 mpg car.
The lack of weight.
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