Application of carbon fiber in car interior design

With the continuous innovation of technology and the continuous emergence of advanced materials, the automobile manufacturing industry has changed a lot in the past few years. Recently, there has been a trend in the automotive industry to use lightweight materials in the interior design of automobiles, typical materials include carbon fiber and so on.

Mercedes Honda Civic  Carbon Fiber Steering Wheel Interior

Why carbon fiber can be used in car interior design?

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is also known as carbon fiber laminate. The material could make cars lighter, safer and more fuel efficient.

CFRP laminates are very strong because there is a lot of pure carbon fiber material in them. The polymer is based on epoxy or plastic and reinforced with carbon fibers.

Mercedes G-Class Brabus Red Carbon Fiber Center Console

The density of carbon fiber is about 1.3 to 1.5 g/cc. This makes carbon fiber lighter than magnesium, which in the past was considered the lightest material used in various structures.

In fact, carbon fiber laminates are still very expensive in terms of price, but this is so because many of their production processes need to be done manually, in addition to the processing cycle time required for the polymer to cure Longer, sometimes up to 24 to 50 hours.

What is the purpose of using carbon fiber in the interior of a car?

Today, only high-performance race cars are made entirely of carbon fiber laminates because they accelerate to a great extent.

Some current high-end cars, including the McLaren 570S, Alfa Romeo 4C, Porsche 918 and Ford GT, have bodies made of CFRP.

Nissan GTR R35 Carbon Fiber Interior

However, their production requires a lot of time and effort, which makes them extremely expensive. Other electric vehicles are also made of carbon fiber, because the use of carbon fiber reinforced plastic can extend the life of the battery.

People are more and more impressed by the appearance of carbon fiber laminate, which makes people tend to use this material in some decorative areas. In the past, automakers of high-performance vehicles have removed some parts from the interior of their cars in an effort to save unnecessary weight.

These include the rear seats or the radio, and some are made of strange materials, such as the door handles made of nylon cord.

Detail of carbon fiber interior door of BMW car

Fortunately, with some cars today, things are different than in the past. The use of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics in the interior of the car can further reduce weight. As a result, drivers can now afford to have a radio or navigation system in their car as carbon fiber compensates for the extra weight. In addition to this, the carbon fiber laminate also makes the interior of the car look chic and stylish.

The Gran Turismo MC is another car that can use carbon fiber laminate trim for some of its interior parts. E.g:

steering wheel

paddle shifters

front dashboard

side door insert

Mercedes S-Class Carbon Fiber Interior

Almost all of these parts can be trimmed with carbon fiber. However, in this case, the only reason to use this material is for looks, as most of the trimmed parts are made of wood or plastic, which aren't actually much heavier than carbon fiber, but have a slightly worse look.