malcolm

There's been a project running here in the UK called FrameOne, overseen by Foresight Vehicles, which runs various industry projects as part of The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders:

Foresight Vehicle*FRAMEONE*Project

Lead Partner in this project has been Caterham Cars and it seems they have got together with Axon Automotive to make an all Carbon fibre version of the Seven (the Eco-M Caterham 7), which achieved 131 mpg from a standard 1.6 litre K series engine at last year's Shell Eco Marathon. (However, I'm still not clear at what speed it achieved this mileage - since the rules allow for 15 mph minimum!)

The 131 mpg Caterham

Axon are looking to apply this technology to a standard hatchback for 2009. They're hoping to get a more realistic 80 mpg - But as ever "your mileage may vary":-

Axon Automotive

It's the usual British low-volume thing at the moment, but could be useful for Bluestar.

dsacks6

Have there not already been a few cars using a carbon fiber spaceframe such as the mclaren f1 or pagani zonda?

malcolm

Absolutely.

This is an attempt to devise suitable manufacturing methods for cheaper cars.

There's a number of companies working on similar ideas; Italy's ATR are adapting their carbon fibre work for supercars to GTs.

CompositesWorld.com - Composites Technology - Innovative Composite Design May Replace Aluminum Chassis - February 2006

Quote: " The estimated weight savings compared to an aluminum design is about 35 percent, and there is the potential for an additional 15 percent in an actual project scenario, where the design could be optimized. "

Obviously, US auto manufacturers are interested:-

Carbon fiber cars could put US on highway to efficiency

Although I can't find anything more recent on the research work done at ORNL. Site must be updating.