F1 engineers to launch innovative new carbon technology
They have patented a method of producing a colored carbon fiber, previously considered to be impossible.
It is called Hypetex, which is set to be used for all kinds of things from car interiors to furniture to bicycles. It will be displayed during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
The company behind it has been given a license by F1 Management to produce merchandise and to use F1 as a platform to engage with automotive and other firms.
Carbon fiber is naturally black and it is impossible to color it. The best that you can do is to weave it with another colored fiber to create a mixed black and color material that can then be processed in the usual way. The result is a muddy, blurred colored version of traditional carbon fiber. Or it can be painted, as it is currently on F1 cars.
After seven years of R&D the group behind Hypetex have solved the problem.
Hypetex will launch at the Driving Technological Change exhibition at the Silverstone today before moving on to a display in the F1 Paddock Club during the British Grand Prix weekend.
According to the engineering team behind this new product, "The carbon fiber industry is still growing at an incredibly fast rate, with annual production of the material up to 44,000 tons a year. This is set to treble over the next six years as carbon fiber becomes easier to manufacture and distribute.
"With the introduction to the market of Hypetex, which is produced by UK-based GPF One, a new world of possibilities for carbon fiber has opened up."
It is rumored that McLaren is in discussions with the firm to use Hypetex for the interior of its new P1 road going super car. James Allen on F1