Japanese firms working to make carbon fiber mainstream

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Carbon fiber may be best known for its use in golf clubs and jet planes. Yet the silvery black composite is extremely strong and light, and holds great potential as a steel substitute while automakers race to squeeze every extra mile from a gallon of gasoline.

The problem with carbon fiber is that it is expensive and it takes time to mold.

Now Japan’s big three carbon fiber producers are tackling these issues in a number of ways. First, the price of CF is expected to become more competitive as both carbon cloth goes down and rolled sheet steel goes up. What’s more, as additional CF producing plants come online in the coming years, both the price and availability should improve. Third, new molding processes are being developed which could reduce the time it takes to produce a CF part from hours to minutes.

Automotive News points out, the overall weight of any given vehicle could be halved by replacing major structural steel components with CF, so expect to see CF move down market from the exotics to more mainstream models in the next decade or so.