BAC, the Liverpool-based manufacturer of advanced, lightweight sports cars has successfully built the world’s first car using graphene – a form of carbon just one atom thick.
No other material on earth boasts the same breadth of superlatives, with graphene being 200 times stronger than steel, electrically and thermally conductive and also transparent.
The world’s first '2D' material, according to researchers a sliver of graphene is a million times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, but stronger than materials like carbon fibre and about 20 per cent lighter too.
200 times stronger than steel
Graphene’s use in cars could have significant implications for cost, performance and fuel economy alike, with cars able to be made much lighter but with no reduction in rigidity or toughness.
BAC used the substance to construct a version of its Mono sports car, with the rear wheel arches made of graphene in order to test the viability of the substance’s use in automotive engineering.
Neill Briggs, BAC co-founder and development director, said: “BAC is uniquely placed in the automotive industry to be able to take innovative steps, and latest work with graphene is further proof of this.
A million times thinner than a human hair
“Making significant weight savings and improving body strength will allow us to offer improved performance to our customers.”
The graphene-enhanced BAC Mono is currently on display at the Science in the City festival in Manchester and with proof of concept, BAC can now work on expanding its use of the material.
