Body of Toyota HiLux Built Using SGL Carbon Prepregs

The Toyota HiLux, a heavy-duty utility vehicle, will be competing in the Asia Cross Country Rally with an updated body made of natural flax fibers. SGL Carbon sourced the ampliTex flax fiber composite materials from Bcomp and pre-impregnated the fabric with matrix materials. Tras Ltd used the prepregs in the development of final components for the vehicle body after extensive testing. Not only are the prepreg materials lightweight and sustainable, but they also provide a unique and natural look to the body of the HiLux.

Sustainability was important to the team, and Bcomp’s flax fiber technologies offer up to 85% lower CO₂ footprint when compared to traditional carbon fiber parts. Not only is the flax fiber material ecologically sound, the components developed of the material performed well in crash testing and provided excellent vibration damping.

Masanao Nitta, CEO of Tras Ltd. noted about the development of the components for the body of the HiLux, “The use of the special resin system was an important improvement for us, as we often face very high humidity in Asia, yet the components must still meet the rigorous demands of racing. With this natural car body, we now have a lightweight, sustainable component that looks great too.”

“A major challenge was the comparatively high moisture absorption of the flax fibers. We therefore used a special transparent, fast-curing resin system that has proven particularly resistant to and tolerant of the high moisture content of the natural fibers. This ensures an attractive appearance of the components as well as the good mechanical and thermal properties of the composite material, which are particularly important in motorsports,” explains Dr. Thomas Meinhardt, Team Lead Technical Marketing Prepregs at SGL Carbon. Toyota subsidiary TCD (Toyota Customizing & Development) has followed this project and is interested in exploring the use of natural fibers in future developments.

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