Source: http://www.autonews.com/article/20171207/OEM01/171209822/gm-to-use-carbon-fiber-in-redesigned-pickup-beds General Motors plans to use carbon fiber for the beds of its redesigned full-size pickups to improve performance and reduce weight, Automotive Newshas learned. Two sources familiar with the company's plans confirmed the use of the high-strength material, which has primarily been reserved for luxury vehicles and sports cars because it costs significantlymore than steel and aluminum. . . . First off, kudos to GM if they carry it off. This is the same GM that dropped a toolbox on a Ford aluminum bed to knock aluminum. Still, I look forward to seeing it show up. It is about their only play if the Tesla pickup ever shows up. Bob Wilson
Well its a welcome development, considering how Ford has being in the forefront of weight reduction in some of its vehicles. The environmental, and even performance or otherwise benefits of this fiber material, in my view are huge. But the intital cost of purchase of such vehicles is what individuals would be more concerned about maybe. What if this technology was implemented on a hybrid vehicle like any of the prii? MPGs would be dammed.... Dxta
Fiber beds make sense since the primary cost is getting 10+ years out a fiber mold for your break even, given truck beds have stayed more or less the same for 50 years you can bet that would start paying dividends since fiber is cheaper than steel if you get the labor out (what the mold is for) and get the extreme cost of the mold out (must use it for over 10 years) The talk for a long time has been that all cars and SUVS need to be fully composite and under 2000lbs to meet future efficiency standards and also cut cost by half over steel but auto makers can’t justify design cycles with 10+ Year lengths this change is one of the first steps, my hope is roofs, hoods and doors are next.
Sounds interesting...but then they kind of hedge with this statement: " Carbon fiber, according to one source, is expected to be used AS PART OF A MIX of materials for the box of the pickups, including aluminum. The truck beds could mark GM's first use of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic ". That just leaves me wondering what the end product is actually going to be. I hope it's something tangibly significant, and not just something cosmetic, or thrown in primarily for advertising purposes. But if that "one source" is correct, it doesn't sound like we are talking about a fully carbon fiber bed of a pick-up. I'll be interested in what this application of Carbon fiber actually becomes.
