Automotive Interior and Exterior Applications
Sustainable lightweighting for large-scale mobility
Cut weight and plastic with ampliTex™ and powerRibs™
There is an ongoing revolution towards cleaner mobility for the future. Bcomp’s solutions for sustainable lightweighting with thermoplastic powerRibs™ can cut weight by up to 50% and reduce plastic by up to 70% in interior panels. Thereby both the impact of materials used, and fuel consumption can be reduced. The solution is cost-efficient and can be seamlessly integrated into high-speed production lines. ampliTex™ technical fabrics enable novel design options, creating a functional and visual layer in one.
Sustainable and beautiful exterior components
High-end exterior components from entire roof panels to smaller decorative parts like mirror housings can be made from our high-performance natural fibre composites. A combination of ampliTex™ on its own, or in a combination with powerRibs™, can replace carbon fibre or glass fibre parts at the same weight and performance balance while offering a completely new natural aesthetic.
Sustainable design
Where the sustainable lightweighting concept is focused on exploiting the full potential of Bcomp’s ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ technologies, the idea of sustainable design combines sustainability benefits with a desire for unique aesthetics. The character and soul transmitted by the natural appearance of ampliTex™, is combined with the simplicity of an injection moulding process. Used as a customisable visual layer, ampliTex™ can replace traditional petrol-based cover materials with a renewable alternative while guaranteeing highest ease of use as a drop-in layer in your injection moulding process. This simple compatibility with one of the most widely used production processes, really allows OEMs and Tier 1s to easily embrace the sustainable design perks of ampliTex™ without having to worry about added complexity.
Benefits
50% lighter parts
Replacing conventional IMPP components with our large-scale natural fibre technologies allows for up to 50% weight reduction. Our powerRibs™-PP reinforcements play a significant role in creating lighter parts without compromising performance and are not limited to visual parts. There is significant potential for lightweighting in the heavy parts made of injection moulded plastic that are often out of sight.
70% less plastic used
The optimised mechanical properties of our natural fibre reinforcements allow components to achieve their structural performance with less material. Dematerialisation is the keyword here and shows how our ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ solutions allow components to be created with up to 70% less plastic. Less plastic means less weight and less material that is used altogether, contributing to a lower CO2 footprint.
Circular solution
On top of being naturally renewable materials, Bcomp’s thermoplastic ampliTex™-PP and powerRibs™-PP products offer circular opportunities to large-scale industries. Production scrap which is inevitable can be recycled into a new base material for different applications (injection moulding) or can be fed back into the production process for components like directly attached fasteners and local reinforcements.
Customisable aesthetic
With a variety of weave and colour options, ampliTex™ is guaranteed to fulfil your wishes for sustainable design options. And with the possibility to completely customise and tailor our beautiful natural fibre composites to customer needs, your imagination is the only limit between you and the future of sustainable interior design.
Large-scale production
Bcomp has worked tirelessly and collaborated with key players from the industry to ensure that our material solutions are fit for large-scale production and industrialised processes. ampliTex™-PP and powerRibs™-PP are compatible with both compression moulding processes for highest performance and injection moulding for simplicity and easy implementation into one of the most widely used production processes.
Testimonials
They trust in our high-performance solutions to work towards a cleaner future.
“We’ve been researching the use of flax fibre for some time to integrate it in our car seats. We presented this project at the Unstoppable Impulse event in Terramar and are now happy to say that it’s been successfully implemented. We are changing the sporty aesthetics to incorporate a functional part made of flax fibre in the interior of a car.”
Francesca Sangalli, Head of Colour & Trim Concept & Strategy, CUPRA
“The collaboration with Bcomp has been a significant achievement for Italdesign in declaring to the world our company’s interest in reaching cutting-edge sustainable goals through an experiential journey in contact with nature. In this context, natural fibre plays a crucial role, not only as a visual choice but also, and most importantly, because it drastically reduces the environmental impact. In my personal experience with Bcomp, I have come to know a cohesive team always willing to explore new aesthetic and technical avenues to advance the path of sustainable material innovation in the automotive world.”
Giorgia De Silva, Interior Design and CMF Designer Specialist, Italdesign
“The state-of-the-art interior materials employed in our Concept EV3 and Concept EV4 demonstrate Kia’s commitment to exploring scalable, sustainable solutions for future vehicle production. With an extensive history of use in performance applications, we were thrilled to incorporate innovative sustainable materials such as Bcomp’s flax fibre that reduce the vehicles’ environmental impact, deliver a lightweight and slimmer seat design, and afford unprecedented levels of colour choice and trim finish for a modern aesthetic into the Concept EV3 and Concept EV4 – making them truly unique.”
Marília Biill, Head of Colour, Material and Finish (CMF) Design, Kia Corporation
“We understood the huge potential of this material and, finally, after years of development together with our suppliers – and Bcomp – we’ve found the key to applying it in high volume production. Our own signature weave brings a luxurious and technical finish to this natural fibre composite, which means it can now be used as a functional and visual material.”
Maximilian Missoni, Head of Design, Polestar
“We’re very encouraged by the possibilities offered by flax composites, which is why we used them both in the interior and on the exterior of the Volvo Cars Concept Recharge. It is a material that is environmentally responsible with a very low carbon footprint that also delivers an attractive and natural aesthetic.”
Robin Page, Senior Vice President Design, Volvo Cars
“We must all ensure that natural fibre composites are used more and more in the world of automotive components.”
Eduard Ene, Specialist Interior GT-Road Cars, Porsche Motorsport
“Swiss natural fibre firm Bcomp came up with the idea of using fully sustainable flax to create high-performance composite materials… then we came up with the idea of using these composites in the Polestar Precept.”
Thomas Ingenlath, CEO, Polestar
Sustainability
powerRibs™ and ampliTex™ are made from flax fibres that grow naturally in Europe without competing with food crops. By optimising the properties of the fibres mechanically and through fabric architecture, less material is used. At the end of their life, parts can be ground down into a new base material or used for thermal energy recovery without residual waste in the standard waste management system.
Manufacturing Process
Compression moulding
Not only do ampliTex™-PP and powerRibs™-PP have a substantial positive environmental impact, but they also deliver practical benefits for large-scale production. Easily integrated into existing compression moulding lines, the technology can simplify manufacturing by eliminating certain steps. For example, creating parts with a perfect visual surface directly out of the mould allows to forego additional steps like the application of traditional cover materials. Furthermore, the possibility of implementing a one-step back injection process for local reinforcements and fasteners further enhances efficiency, allowing the solution to comply with tight time restrictions in mass production settings.
Injection moulding
The character and soul transmitted by the natural appearance of ampliTex™, can easily be combined with the simplicity of an injection moulding process. Used as a customisable visual layer, ampliTex™ can replace traditional petrol-based cover materials with a renewable alternative while guaranteeing highest ease of use as a drop-in layer in your injection moulding process. This simple compatibility with one of the most widely used production processes, really allows OEMs and Tier 1s to easily embrace the sustainable design perks of ampliTex™ without having to worry about added complexity.
Get in Touch
Get in touch with us to discuss how our sustainable lightweighting solutions can help you decarbonise your products and move towards a circular solution.
Want to Join the Team?
Are you looking for a unique opportunity? Come and work with us! Bcomp is always looking for talented and experienced individuals that want to join us on our journey towards a circular economy and contribute with their technical and practical knowledge.
News
Applications
Our high-performance material solutions build on the exceptional properties of renewable flax fibres to replace standard engineering materials in areas from automotive to mass transportation and from motorsports to luxury yachting and sports without sacrificing any performance.
Automotive
Our solutions for large-scale automotive interior and exterior parts enable exceptional weight- and plastic reduction while introducing completely novel design opportunities.
Mass Transportation
Buses, trains, subways, and airplanes – thanks to our specialist products like fire resistant ampliTex™ natural fibre reinforcements, the benefits of sustainable lightweighting that have already convinced the automotive industry can also have an impact across the full bandwidth of mass transportation.
Motorsports and Supercars
Match the performance of carbon fibres with natural fibres thanks to our proprietary motorsport solutions. Improve safety and vibration damping while reducing environmental impact.
Sports
Natural fibres for enhanced performance and feeling. Sustainable and lightweight, our ampliTex™ flax reinforcement fabrics enable innovation in sports gear by increasing performance, delivering a signature feeling and reducing environmental impact.
Marine
From kayaks and sailing boats to ultimate luxury yachts, we provide beautiful, sustainable and vibration damping material solutions for both interior- and exterior applications.
Lifestyle
Luggage, designer watches, consumer electronics and luxury furniture, our sustainable natural fibre materials are extremely versatile and offer a distinct and customisable natural beauty and aesthetic while adding functional benefits.
Infrastructure
From bridges to entire building facades and interior structures, our ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ solutions can create architectural objects with extraordinary design and aesthetics while using a renewable material instead of conventional fossil-based materials.
Let’s Decarbonise the World Together!
You want to learn more about how our sustainable lightweighting solutions can help you decarbonise your products, you have a burning question, or you just want to send us some love – then wait no longer and get in touch.