Mexican Media Brands
Ford Begins Testing Carbon Fiber Subframe from Magna
Ford Motor Co. has begun validation tests on a prototype carbon fiber composite subframe co-developed with Magna International Inc.
Share
Ford Motor Co. has begun validation tests on a prototype carbon fiber composite subframe co-developed with Magna International Inc.
Ford is testing the system in a Fusion midsize sedan. Magna tells Automotive News that the carmaker will decide by year-end whether to put the assembly into production.
Carbon fiber is strong but also brittle compared with high-strength steel. Magna says its design can absorb only 5% of the energy involved in a front-end crash. The company acknowledges that steel and perhaps other metals would be required to meet crash standards.
Magna tells AN that side doors may be a more likely, though also challenging, next application for carbon fiber. The material is already used in rear liftgates, where crash energy absorption isn’t a big performance issue.
RELATED CONTENT
-
On Fuel Cells, Battery Enclosures, and Lucid Air
A skateboard for fuel cells, building a better battery enclosure, what ADAS does, a big engine for boats, the curious case of lean production, what drivers think, and why Lucid is remarkable
-
On Military Trucks, Euro Car Sales, Mazda Drops and More
Did you know Mack is making military dump trucks from commercial vehicles or that Ford tied with Daimler in Euro vehicle sales or the Mazda6 is soon to be a thing of the past or Alexa can be more readily integrated or about Honda’s new EV strategy? All that and more are found here.
-
On The Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2022 Nissan Pathfinder, and More
An inside look at the Detroit Assembly Complex-Mack; a innovative approach to waste-free, two-tone painting; why a forging press is like an F1 car; and other automotive developments.
