Quote:
Originally Posted by kbui
Composite has been looked at since the '90s. There was even an consortium of automakers (ACC) worldwide formed to study composite structures for automotive applications. The biggest problems with composites are 1) high costs and 2) do not have the ductility for energy absorption in a crash. Composite's failure modes are tricky. It's still a big battle to use composites for crashworthiness and it's not going to be easy. Combining composite with aluminum to reduce weight would be great, but keeping the costs down will be difficult. Especially for the hi performance sport/muscle cars in the ~$30K range.
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They also have a habit of cracking over time from vibration or from shock. Once you have an accident, the structural integrity of the entire car is in question.