Autocomposites Commercialization Launchpad Kickoff Meeting Post Meeting Report

The Autocomposites Commercialization Launchpad seeks to assemble a manufacturing team to produce a carbon fiber composite part for a 2018 model year vehicle at a volume of 50,000 units per year. The report details investment challenges, technical hurdles related to part design and assembly, and a 10-step action plan to engage OEMs and scale production.

• The immediate goal of the Launchpad is to design and produce a carbon fiber composite part for a 2018 model year vehicle with a production volume of at least 50,000 units per year.
• Phase 1 (Part & Process Design) costs are estimated between $2 million and $4 million, with concept development alone costing $500,000 and part design estimated at $80,000 per concept.
• Prototype development costs are estimated at $300,000, primarily for tooling, though injection molded thermoplastics may be significantly cheaper than thermoset options.
• Technical challenges for the composite door inner include achieving a tight tolerance of +/- 0.2 mm, avoiding galvanic interaction between aluminum outers and composite inners, and managing humidity tests requiring 240 hours in steam.
• The use of high strain-to-failure materials like Zylon in the door inner's waist rail can improve safety by transferring load during frontal crashes and decreasing intrusion during side impacts, though these materials are expensive.
• The group proposed a 10-step plan for commercialization, which includes developing an OEM pitch, identifying fleet customers, creating a tooling and equipment scaleup plan with NACMI, and seeking a 50% cost share commitment from OEMs.

APA

RMI (2013). Autocomposites Commercialization Launchpad Kickoff Meeting Post Meeting Report. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_AutocompositesCommercializationLaunchpadMeetingReport_vFinal_2014-03.pdf

Chicago

RMI. Autocomposites Commercialization Launchpad Kickoff Meeting Post Meeting Report. 2013. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_AutocompositesCommercializationLaunchpadMeetingReport_vFinal_2014-03.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Autocomposites Commercialization Launchpad Kickoff Meeting Post Meeting Report |date=27 June 2013 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_AutocompositesCommercializationLaunchpadMeetingReport_vFinal_2014-03.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2013autocomposites, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Autocomposites Commercialization Launchpad Kickoff Meeting Post Meeting Report}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2013}, month = jun, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_AutocompositesCommercializationLaunchpadMeetingReport_vFinal_2014-03.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }