Helen Knight

BAC and partners to investigate graphene-enhanced composite body panels

News

Lighter, greener car body panels could be produced, without any reduction in strength, thanks to research into graphene-enhanced carbon fibre composites.

Briggs Automotive Company (BAC), the UK-based manufacturer of the world’s only road-legal supercar, the BAC Mono, has received funding from the Niche Vehicle Network to undertake research into the use of graphene in composite body panels.

In 2016, BAC became the first manufacturer in the world to develop a graphene-panelled car, when it created graphene-enhanced carbon fibre composite wheel arches for the Mono.

The new project, which also includes Haydale Composite Solutions and Pentaxia Composites, is aiming to take this development further.

Graphene consists of one atom-thick sheets of carbon, and is stronger than carbon fibre and steel. As a result, its use in automotive manufacturing could decrease the weight of body panels by around 20 per cent, reducing carbon dioxide emissions without affecting the car’s strength.

Graphene has also been found to increase impact resistance, for example to stone chips and ultraviolet degradation, according to Neil Briggs, co-founder and director of product development at BAC.

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