The commitment to the creation of green cars isn’t limited to reducing exhaust emissions – it also applies to the materials used within our cars, as emphasised by the latest development from Mitsubishi.
It has teamed up with EIDAIKAKO Company, MRC Pylen Company and Toyota Tsusho Corporation to develop a new floor mat made using plant-based bio-polyethylene fibre. Production of the floor mats is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2012.
Bio-polyethylene is a plant-based resin that uses sugarcane molasses. Compared to conventional petroleum based floor mats, the fibre in the new floor mat has a core-sheath structure with the core covered with conventional petrol-based polypropylene sheath. This helps it to meet high levels of performance, particularly related to abrasion and heat resistance.
According to in-house calculations, the fibre floor mat achieves a 15 per cent reduction in lifecycle CO2 emissions compared to a similar mat using petrol based PP fibre.
Now Mitsubishi is conducting research and development on a series of plant-based Green Plastics with the aim of replacing petrol based plastics.
