Carbon-fiber wheels bid for mainstream scale

Some engineering challenges are carrying over from internal combustion vehicles to electric cars and trucks.

Cutting weight, improving aerodynamic performance and reducing noise are perhaps the three biggest non-powertrain challenges that engineers have to deal with on the armada of EVs in the pipeline.

EVs might have far fewer moving parts, but they don't weigh less than ICE vehicles. In fact, many EVs weigh more because of their heavy battery packs. The electric GMC Hummer pickup, for instance, has an eye-popping curb weight of 9,046 pounds — roughly 3,200 pounds more than a 2021 Cadillac Escalade.

Lower aerodynamic drag, of course, helps vehicles use less energy, and with no noise or vibration from an engine, other sounds are amplified straight into the interior.

So, when a supplier develops a part that weighs about 40 percent less than a traditional component, cuts noise by as much as 5 decibels and can improve aerodynamic efficiency, you bet automakers are going to be interested.

That brings us to an Australian company, Carbon Revolution, a 14-year-old outfit that is working to parlay its patented manufacturing process for carbon-fiber wheels into a high-volume, mainstream business. Carbon-fiber wheels have been around for years, mostly as mega-expensive options on exotic, six-figure supercars.

But now, with manufacturing and raw materials costs coming down, Carbon Revolution CEO Jake Dingle sees an opportunity to take market share away from wheels made of metal, such as aluminum and possibly magnesium.

"When we set the business up as a pure-play carbon-fiber business — this is what we are focused on — the intent of the business was to create a disruptive technology, to scale up and industrialize everything we do," Dingle told me from Carbon Revolution's plant in Geelong, Australia. "We had to automate processes and drive the hours per wheel down to single digits. And that's where we are at the moment."

The company has five customers today and has deals to expand from exotic supercars to mainstream trucks and SUVs. And that makes perfect sense. Tire and wheel sizes on SUVs and pickups have ballooned in recent years, along with their weight. Some of the largest SUV wheels today are 22 inches with tire sizes up to more than 30 inches on some vehicles, a combination that can weigh nearly 100 pounds, or 400 pounds per vehicle. And bigger wheels and tires are coming. Two weeks ago Chevrolet said the battery-electric Silverado pickup will have optional 24-inch wheels.

Dingle says a set of the company's carbon-fiber wheels can reduce weight between 88 and 110 pounds per vehicle — and that's huge. Chassis and body engineers struggle to save even one pound.

"We've always intended this to be an efficiency technology that drives much more into the mainstream and large scale," Dingle said. The company has about 50 patents related to the product and the manufacturing process.

Ron Collins, former head of Ford Motor Co.'s chassis development, who now works for Carbon Revolution, says the cost to automakers for carbon-fiber wheels can get extremely close to aluminum wheels — once volume increases.

Carbon-fiber wheels have a reputation for being somewhat fragile compared with aluminum rims. But the lightweight nature of the wheels enables some material to be put back in to increase strength, so the wheels can take beatings from potholes in subzero weather without being damaged, Collins says.

In addition to the appearance of the wheel, carbon-fiber rims can improve handling and braking.

"On a car, bigger wheels make the steering feel a bit heavier. With lighter wheels, you get better steering response, and the car feels lighter on its feet. But also, you propagate that through the whole vehicle," Collins said. "Because it is so much lighter in a critical place, you can lighten up the suspension and the body attachments. There's only positives upsides to taking the weight out."

Except for getting bigger and more expensive, wheels have not changed much in the last 50 years. Although it won't be the end of the road anytime soon for steel and aluminum wheels, companies such as Carbon Revolution are going to start getting their wheels on high-profile mainstream vehicles. And that will force manufacturers of aluminum and steel wheels to get to work to get the weight out.