General Motors has outlined its commitment to using carbon fibre in its vehicles by agreeing to co-develop advanced carbon fibre composite technologies with Teijin Limited.
Teijin is a leader in the carbon fibre and composites industry and its reinforced thermoplastic technology will be used as a faster, more efficient way to produce carbon fibre composites that could be potentially introduced on mainstream vehicles. Teijin is renowned for its ability to mass produce carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic components with cycle times of less than one minute.
Carbon fibre is increasingly popular for use in automobile components because it is 10 times stronger than regular grade steel and only one quarter of the weight. Indeed consumers can benefit from lighter weight vehicles with better fuel economy and numerous safety benefits.
In an effort to support the relationship, Teijin will establish the Teijin Composites Application Centre in the northern part of the United States. It has already announced plans to launch a pilot plant for fully integrated production of carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic components from its Matsuyama Factory in Ehime Prefecture, Japan.
The company recently received a 2011 Global Automotive Carbon Composites Technology Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan.
