Autocomposites Commercialization Launchpad Kickoff Meeting Post Meeting Report

The Autocomposites Commercialization Launchpad Kickoff Meeting, hosted by Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and Munro & Associates on June 27, 2013, aimed to create a commercialization plan for high-volume carbon fiber (CF) composite automotive parts, specifically focusing on the door inner. The initiative seeks to assemble a manufacturing team to produce a part for a 2018 model year vehicle at a volume of 50,000 units or more, addressing barriers such as high costs and inadequate manufacturing scale.

• The immediate objective of the Autocomposites Commercialization Launchpad is to form a competitive manufacturing team capable of designing and producing a carbon fiber composite part for a 2018 model year vehicle with a production volume of at least 50,000 units per year.
• The project identifies carbon fiber (CF) composites as central to vehicle weight reduction, which can improve fuel efficiency, safety, and performance, and enable smaller, more cost-effective electrified powertrains. However, commercialization is hindered by high costs, insufficient analysis tools, inadequate manufacturing scale, and immature recycling and repair techniques.
• For Phase 1 (Part & Process Design), the group estimated the total cost at $2-4 million. This includes concept development (estimated at $500,000), part design (estimated at $80,000 per concept), and prototype development (estimated at $300,000, primarily for tooling).
• Technical challenges for the carbon fiber door inner include achieving tight tolerances (often +/- 0.2 mm), managing the interface with paint, and avoiding galvanic interaction between composite and aluminum when mating the inner to an aluminum outer. Additionally, humidity tests requiring 240 hours in steam may dictate the choice of material systems.
• The use of high strain-to-failure materials like Zylon for the door inner's waist rail could improve safety by transferring loads rearward during frontal crashes and decreasing intrusion during side impacts, though such materials are expensive and require advanced CAE and predictive modeling to justify the investment.
• The group proposed a 10-step plan for moving toward commercialization, which includes developing an OEM pitch, identifying 'pain points' at OEMs, gathering door specifications, creating a tooling and equipment procurement plan in cooperation with NACMI, and establishing an IP framework for profit sharing.

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} }