![]() The product of a project with Ford Motor Co. ![]() The leaf spring, manufactured with fiberglass-reinforced epoxy prepreg, is said to reduce mass up to 75% compared to an all-steel leaf spring, and 58% compared to hybrid steel/composite leaf springs.Īnother recent innovation in this field, winner of a 2021 Altair Enlighten Award, is Rassini International’s (Plymouth, Mich., U.S.) multi-material steel/composite leaf springs. For example, the Grand Award winner of the 2022 SPE Automotive Innovation Awards is an all-composite leaf spring for light truck programs, developed by Mubea (Attendorn, Germany) for General Motors Co. Photo Credit: RassiniĬomposite leaf springs and leaf spring components also continue to be a leading market for composites in automotive. ![]() Rassini’s 1+C hybrid leaf spring features a single steel parabolic main plate and a flat glass fiber composite helper plate to provide suspension on the rear wheels of the Ford F-150 pickup truck. For both EVs and ICE vehicles, OEMs continue to incrementally adopt composite structural components in vehicles where they make sense, and to move toward more efficient, more automated processes for increased volumes.įor example, in 2022 BMW Group (Munich, Germany) rolled out its newest battery-electric sports activity vehicle (SAV), the iX, featuring a “Carbon Cage” body frame that combines RTM’d braided preforming, fiber-reinforced thermoplastic injection molding, compression molding and metallics in a multi-material design that builds upon BMW’s previous composite strategies for the i3, i8 and 7-Series. Structural components, leaf springs and moreīattery enclosures for EVs tended to dominate automotive composites headlines in 2022, but ICE vehicles are far from out of the picture. Read “Mass, cost, durability improvements: EV battery enclosures, Part 2” to learn more about materials developments to meet market demands.Read “Price, performance, protection: EV battery enclosures, Part 1” to learn more about the evolving world of simulation, ongoing efforts by Tier suppliers producing battery enclosures and conductive additives. Link to V1R Custom seats.Want to learn more about composites developments for EV battery enclosures? If you want to order seats like mine or other carbon fiber interior bits you can order them through GRP and enter the discount code "Keleent" at checkout for a big discount! ? get it?) I'm actually the FIRST and ONLY person in the world to have it officiated by Lotus themselves (and on my certificate of provenance), through the company archivist Andy Graham. If you take a look at the right side of the frame near the subwoofer, you'll notice that it is signed by the very who my Elise is named after- Elisa Artioli (granddaughter of the lotus chairman at the time -Romano Artioli). Handmade in England by Lotus- Perfected by me. It may take a long time to get something to where I want it but I am a perfectionist at heart and I simply do not settle for mediocrity. As I mentioned, my long time friends know that every car that I have passionately owned, from my Celica GT-S to my Lotus- is to be a visionary. My harness is installed as you saw in my last post but not pictured here. So may now finally present to you: my carbon fiber interior paired with my custom designed V1R carbon fiber seats (which I designed and had manufactured for me in Italy through Greg Thiessen). so many people have already seen it in person and taken pictures so I feel it's not fair to keep it from you guys. I wanted to reveal my interior through a nice professional photoshoot but. ![]()
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