The Basque technology center Gaiker–IK4 is developing low-cost polymer composites that enable drastically reducing a car’s weight.
The Basque technology center Gaiker–IK4 is working with low-cost polymer composites that enable reducing the weight of an automobile by up to 30% compared to other existing materials in the market. The center saw the need to manufacture this novel material more cheaply, for a sector that has seen the cost of components rise enormously during recent years.
The project is carried out in various phases. The first phase, in which 20 companies from the trade have collaborated, starts by obtaining a low-cost carbon fiber made from petroleum waste products.
Once this material is obtained, the technicians carry out a process called carbonization, in order to achieve greater resistance. Thanks to this method it’s possible to cut the usual cost of the fiber, which reaches €68 per kilo, to only €12. Once finished the raw material is transferred to a system of productive conversion processes that are adapted to the needs of the automobile sector.
The most innovative aspect of this technique is the possibility of obtaining a raw material that, because of its low cost, had previously not existed in the market. As a result, this component can cut the weight of a car up to 30%, thereby contributing to the reduction of its CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
Among the main advantages that this pioneering material can provide is the availability of high performance components that can be mass produced. To this can be added the energy absorption of components designed in carbon fiber, as well as the ability to assemble them along with the other components in the vehicle.