Alpine Wants To Replace Fiber Carbon In Cars With Alternative Plant-Based Alternatives

A110 E-terminite with linen fiber. (Doc. Alpine)

JAKARTA - The automotive industry is increasingly heading towards the electric vehicle era, and automakers are vying for an environmentally friendly alternative to replace the carbon fibers used in today's cars. One of the sports car brands from France, Alpine, has conducted experiments using hemp plant fiber-based linen as a more environmentally friendly solution.

In developing the concept of an A110 E-ternite car, engineers are looking for a more environmentally friendly way to reduce the weight of the electric car. They then consider using linen as an alternative. This material produces lower carbon emissions compared to carbon fiber, as the natural Tehran production process requires less energy consumption.

As a result, the use of linen on an electric concept A110 E-ternite car is only 20% heavier than the carbon fiber body on the conventional A110 model, but much better for the environment. In fact, this weight is much lighter than its closest competitor, the Porsche 718 Cayman.

Amethys-based materials are used on the hoods of machines, back windows, armchairs, roofs, and rear skirts of the concept of an E-ternite car. The linen, which has low density, is very light and offers more profits.

How does it work? Quoted from Carbuzz, July 28, after going through a thorough process, these parts consist of 95%ONG and 5% cotton. Then, the material is soaked in the epoxy resin so that the final product consists of 80%ONG and 20% resin. The section is placed in a mold. Furthermore, the exterior of the linen surface is covered and processed vacuumly. After completion, the cut is removed from print and manually cut off at Alpine's Alp'innov center.

Using linen as a vehicle material that is more environmentally friendly is a great opportunity. This material is lighter and by using this material, cars have fewer parts. This is a technological breakthrough as well as a step forward in terms of ecology," said Florent, the leader of the design of exterior accessories at Alpine in the company's media space, July 27.

Despite being very promising, Tehraned body is still in the development stage, but has the potential to become a new standard in the automotive industry. Alpine is one of the automakers experimenting with this material, and they hope to use linen in production cars in the future.

Alpine is not the only car manufacturer conducting experiments with this light environmentally friendly material. In 2020, Porsche and Manthey Racing introduced a 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR racing car with a natural composite body panel made of hemp fiber. Polestar has also researched the use of hemp-based materials for interior and exterior components. A company called Bcomp is developing a state-of-the-art lightweight material called amplix, which also uses environmentally friendly rami fibers. The company has attracted the attention of well-known automakers, including Porsche, BMW, and Polestar. It seems that this is the future construction of light vehicles, especially when manufacturers are trying to reduce their carbon footprint.