Covestro to develop new lightweight sustainable material for Toyota LQ

Covestro, a German chemical company, has been chosen by Toyota Group for jointly developing a new polyurethane composite material for the new electric concept car ‘LQ’ developed by Toyota Motor Corporation.

The new material is based on a combination of Covestro's advanced ‘Baypreg F' NF technology and Toyota Boshoku's expertise in using Kenaf fibres. The new lightweight and sustainable solution will be used in Toyota LQ’s door trims. This new material will be making its world premiere in a Toyota car model. Kenaf is a member of the hibiscus family and is growing in regions such as South East Asia, Bangladesh, India and Africa. The fibre is obtained from bast fibres of the kenaf plant and has recently attracted increasing attention as a cost-effective raw material with good mechanical properties. In the automotive industry, the plant fibre is also attracting increasing interest as an alternative raw material. kenaf fibre-reinforced polyurethane foam composite is characterised by a very low area density of less than 1 kg/m2 and high strength, making the door trim made of the fibre-reinforced kenaf polyurethane foam apparently 30 percent lighter than that produced from conventional materials. The innovation centre of Covestro has reportedly developed low-density polyurethane foams.

Hiroaki Ido, head of Polyurethanes Application Development for Transportation at Covestro's Japanese Innovation Center said, “Our joint development makes an important contribution to the design of particularly lightweight and sustainable vehicles. The lighter the material, the further the car can travel on a single gas or battery charge. It is also a good example of our company's focus on using alternative raw materials and establishing a circular economy.”