Hackenberg: Carbon Fiber Still Too Slow For Mass Produced Cars, But Getting There

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Volkswagen’s R&D chief Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg is cautiously optimistic about the use of carbon fiber technologies in volume cars. Said Hackenberg today in Wolfsburg:

“Carbon fiber technology is still too expensive for volume cars. For some parts of the car it will make sense in the near future.Looking at the CPO2 and emission limits there are some areas in the car that will make sense. But not in the whole car.”

One area of the car that is likely to see carbon fiber components is the roof of the car. A CFRP roof can not just shave lbs off the car, it can also improve its ride. Explained Hackenberg:

“If I change a roof from steel to carbon fiber, I can save some 10 kg. If you have a low weight in the roof area, you lower the center of gravity, that’s good for the car.”

Hackenberg said Volkswagen is testing the use of aluminum sheets and carbon fiber sheets for the next generation of the Passat, “and we have found ways to use these materials in a normal transfer facility to build a normal car.” The challenge here are new joining techniques that mate non-weldable CFRP with other materials such as aluminum or steel. The other challenge is to make CFRP parts fast enough to keep up with a mass-produced vehicle.

As we have seen in the report from the inside of the LFA production, pre-preg CFRP can take hours to assemble, and even more hours to cure in the autoclave.

Hackenberg explained a technology, first used in the Porsche 918, where “the lower parts of the safety cabin, up to the bottom of the A pillars, are done in one shot. We have a tool that closes, the CFRP material is brought into this form, the form is closed, then you inject the resin. Takes half an hour.”

This is still too slow for mass production, but Hackenberg hopes to bring down cycle times to a few minutes, which would be similar to what a roof from hot formed steel would take.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • NMGOM NMGOM on Jun 25, 2013

    All Herr Hackenberg has to do is prescribe multiple vendor sites to pre-form CFRP roofs, so that they can be phased into the assembly line outside of the critical time-flow of production. --------------------

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    • NMGOM NMGOM on Jun 25, 2013

      jmo - - Yes, I am sure you're right if done on the production line in Chattanooga. My point, though, was that if the pre-production of roofs is done by automatic facilities off-line at the CFRP vendor locations, then those multiple autoclave baking times won't be part of the assembly times at the car plant. But you may still have a point about increased labor/material costs, regardless of where the roofs are made. -----------------

  • CelticPete CelticPete on Jun 26, 2013

    I am glad they get it about roofs. It's too bad that they make you get giant sunroofs that don't even open on the A5/S5/RS5 here in the states though..WTF. Glass is heavier then steel or carbon fiber.

  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
  • B-BodyBuick84 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport of course, a 7 seater, 2.4 turbo-diesel I4 BOF SUV with Super-Select 4WD, centre and rear locking diffs standard of course.
  • Corey Lewis Think how dated this 80s design was by 1995!
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