Recycled carbon fiber moves into automotive

Chery eQ1 electric vehicle, manufactured by Chery New Energy Automobile Technology Co. Ltd. will use recycled carbon fiber from ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd.

ELG Carbon Fibre Ltd. (Coseley, UK) and Adesso Advanced Materials Wuhu Co. Ltd. (Wuhu, China) have concluded a MOU regarding cooperation to develop lightweight composite components for the automotive industry based on ELG’s recycled carbon fiber materials.

The initial focus of the cooperation is to investigate applications that have been identified by Chery New Energy Automobile Technology Co. Ltd. (Wuhu, China) on the Chery eQ1 electric vehicle. The goal is to further reduce the weight of the eQ1, which already makes extensive use of aluminium technology, through selective use of carbon fiber composites. The longer term intent is to then apply the knowledge gained from these projects in Chery’s conventional vehicles.

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Following a preliminary evaluation of ELG’s materials by Professor Fan Guanghong’s team at the Advanced Manufacture Technology Center of China Academy of Machinery Science Technology (CAMTC), Chery has suggested initial applications to be investigated, and providing that technical and commercial targets are achieved.  ELG, Adesso and Chery intend to enter into a definite agreement to start full-scale production of these parts in Wuhu. This agreement would see ELG Carbon Fibre establish a carbon fiber recycling operation in China when sufficient volumes of recycled carbon fiber materials are required. The ELG materials to be used are CARBISO M and CARBISO TM. 

Frazer Barnes, managing director of ELG Carbon Fibre, says, “The eQ1, through its extensive use of aluminium, already represents a huge advancement in lightweighting for the Chinese car industry. We are pleased to be working with the innovative engineering team at Adesso and Chery to help them take the next step forward and start introducing carbon fibre composites into their vehicles”.

Dr. Bo Liang, president, chairman and CEO of Adesso, says, “Working together in this project enables us to address the barriers preventing large-scale use of carbon fiber composites in automotive applications —namely cost — through the use of recycled materials, design and manufacturing and collaboration with experienced partners. Our vision is that cooperation leads to an automotive composites hub in Wuhu. It also strengthens our vision on sustainability of the composite industry in China.”

Gao Lixin, deputy general manager of Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. and general manager of Chery New Energy Automobile Technology Co. Ltd., says, “There is a strong need to reduce the weight of both new energy and conventional vehicles in order to meet environmental and performance targets. We believe carbon fiber composites have an important role to play in this and through our cooperation with ELG and Adesso on the eQ1 project we will gain a significant learning curve advantage that we can then use in our conventional vehicles.”