Until now the cost of carbon fiber composites has restricted them to high dollar performance cars like the McLaren F1 or Porsche Carrera GTS. In recent years they have become available in some slightly more affordable machines like the Corvette ZR1 and Tesla Roadster but even those are in $100K+ territory. BMW and other automakers have been working on more affordable applications of carbon fiber for vehicles like the BMW i3 but even those aren't really mainstream.
+Ford Motor Company and Dow Automotive Systems announced that they would collaborate on efforts to bring carbon fiber to the masses. You probably won't find any structural carbon composites in a Focus or Fusion until at least the latter half of this decade, but weight reductions are coming and these advanced materials may well be a big part of how we get there.
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=36330
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Ford and Dow Team Up to Bring Low-Cost, High-Volume Carbon Fiber Composites to Next-Generation Vehicles | Ford Motor Company Newsroom
Ford and Dow Team Up to Bring Low-Cost, High-Volume Carbon Fiber Composites to Next-Generation Vehicles. Weight reductions of up to 750 pounds on future Ford vehicles are key to meeting fuel economy a…
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I truly don't care about carbon fiber etc — I actually care more about Ford's strategy for delivering news, announcements, etc, as it's one of the first adoptees of Google+. :O Would love to hear more behind-the-scenes stuff about Ford!
+Sherilynn Macale You need to chat with +Scott Monty, he's Ford's social media director
+Sam Abuelsamid I definitely have him added to a circle already! 🙂