In the past, luxury cars emphasized the use of natural leather, natural wood, carbon fiber, real metal and other high-quality materials. Luxury is accentuated by these materials, and if combined with hand-crafting, it's even more valuable.
However, as the wind of environmental protection sweeps the world and automakers attach importance to social contribution management, the way cars are manufactured is also changing. The advent of eco-friendly cars puts us in a position where we need to reduce not only the carbon emissions of the car itself, but also the carbon emissions of the car manufacturing process. Now, people are starting to use materials like plastic bottles and canola flowers that don't seem to be suitable for cars, rather than leather, solid wood or carbon fiber.
Caption: Modern Ioniq 5 interior
The hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 feature seats, doors and floor cushions made from yarns reworked from plastic bottles. Approximately 75 PET bottles are used per vehicle.
In addition, paints that use oil extracted from plants such as rape flowers and corn are also used. These are parts such as door trim panels or dashboards. The seats are made of fabrics made from biological ingredients extracted from sugar cane and corn. Vegetable oil is also used in the seat leather dyeing process.
Caption: Interior of the Genesis G80 electric model
The Genesis eG80 also uses naturally dyed leather or recycled PET fabric. To make wooden ornaments, we use waste wood from the furniture manufacturing process. In the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle Hyundai Nexo, bioplastics are used in the instrument panel and the central instrument panel.
Photo note: BMW i3 interior
Mercedes-Benz, EQC also uses recycled PET to manufacture interior components. BMW has made its i3 production plant 100% powered by wind and solar power. When a vehicle is scrapped, 95% of the vehicle can be recycled. The fabric seats are made from recycled wool and plastic bottles, and the leather seats are made of olive leaves. In addition, the interior is decorated with eucalyptus trees, using only wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Picture note: Volvo charging concept interior
Volvo aims to make 25 percent of the materials used in new cars made from recycled or bio-based materials by 2025. To this end, the next generation of new cars will be made of recycled plastic bottles, bio-based materials obtained from sustainable forests in Sweden and Finland, and new interior materials made from recycled materials such as cork recycled from the wine industry.
It will also continue to offer wool blend options from production-certified suppliers for full traceability of the wool supply chain and animals.
For Land Rover, the Range Rover Evoque seats use eucalyptus fabric and Dynamica uses 53 PET bottles to create a suede texture.
Caption: Interior of the Audi e-tron GT
In Audi's new A3, the seat uses 45 plastic bottles with a capacity of 1.5 liters. The number of PET bottles used for carpets is 62, and the number is even higher. In addition, interior parts, thermal insulation and water absorption materials, and luggage side panels are all made of secondary raw materials.
The same goes for the electric e-tron GT. Plastic bottles, fabrics, artificial leather made from residual fibers, fabrics, microfibers, etc. are used. Carpets and mats are made from Econyl, which is made from recycled nylon extracted from waste or old fishing nets. The wheels also go through a CO2 reduction process and use Alcoa 20-inch aluminum wheels that reduce CO2 emissions during smelting.
Caption: Porsche Taycan interior
The same goes for the Porsche Taycan. It uses a foot pad made of Econyle, and you can choose between an interior with olive leaf leather or no leather at all. In Porsche racing cars, doors made from a mixture of natural fibers are used.
The Spanish brand Seat, part of the Volkswagen Group, is unique in its use of rice husks. Rice husks are compressed and mixed with other heat-resistant composites to make plant-recycled plastics. This plastic is called Oryzite. Orizite will be applied to tailgate components, two-layer loading floors and roof linings. The use of rice husks can significantly reduce the proportion of plastic and crude oil-based raw materials in vehicles.
Tire manufacturers are also actively using recycled materials. Michelin has developed a technology that can make tire materials using plastic bottles. Michelin announced a plan to apply recycled or recycled materials to 40 percent of its total production by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. If this plan becomes a reality, it will be possible to use 800,000 tons of PET bottles worldwide.
Continental uses more unique materials. It uses dandelions and plans to make tires using biological materials such as natural rubber extracted from dandelions, silicates extracted from rice husks, vegetable oils and resins. The goal is to reduce the use of crude oil. PET bottles are also used. Approximately 60 PET bottles are used to make 4 tires.
According to Continental, using this eco-friendly technology can reduce carbon dioxide, reuse discarded plastic bottles, and reduce the weight of tires. Up to 40% less weight and up to 6% more mileage if tire drag is also reduced.