Nissan will apply carbon fiber plastic to mainstream models

China Standard Time, carbon fiber has been used for decades in racing cars and high end road vehicles, and the lightweight material was once considered too expensive for mainstream cars, according to foreign media reports, but that may soon change.

Nissan, the latest carmaker to try to mass-produce the material, announced a new manufacturing process for carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) components on Wednesday. Nissan says the new process can cut the development cycle of new parts by half and the production cycle of molded parts by about 80 percent compared to traditional methods. Compared with other materials, combining carbon fiber with plastics to make carbon fiber reinforced plastics simplifies the production process to some extent. BMW has already used it in the body shell of its I3 electric car and in the recently discontinued plug-in Hybrid. Many other automakers also use carbon fiber reinforced plastics in small batches of parts.

Nissan is said to be taking further steps, including using computer simulations to estimate the resin’s performance in the mold. A groove can then be cut into the mold to ensure that the resin is in the right position to improve consistency.

Nissan did not discuss a timetable for introducing carbon fiber reinforced plastic parts in its cars, but the company said it had a lot of work to do and would overhaul its product line and introduce several new models, iNCLUDING THE NEXT-GENERATION Z sports car and the ARIYA electric crossover.

But Nissan also faces significant financial problems as it tries to turn a profit by cutting costs.