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As car makers look to shed weight and minimise environmental impact, interior designers are turning back to basics and to finishes that emphasise natural materials.
French automotive components supplier Faurecia, for instance, speculates that the next generation of automotive seating could come without polyurethane foam. With its Sustainable Comfort Seat concept, the company is replacing foam inside the seat with two sheets of injection moulded thermoplastic PU. The concept displays functional elements, echoing current thinking in sports shoe designs.
The twin-sheet structure is part of a seat system that can yield a 17% weight saving compared with existing designs. By taking 30mm out of the thickness, the new design also allows more leg room for rear-seat passengers.
The Faurecia seat concept uses an injection moulded long glass fibre reinforced PA structural frame in place of the conventional steel. An injection moulded head restraint replaces current foam and steel assemblies.
Faurecia introduced the seat as part of its "Light Attitude" interior concept at the end of last year and has since shown it to individual carmakers.
"The whole idea is celebrating the substrate and getting down to the essential material," says Jay Hutchins product planning manager at Faurecia's North American technical centre, close to Detroit.
Car makers have been focusing on lighter and thinner seats for some years, with most studies aimed at reducing bulk through improved urethane foams that provide the required support in a smaller package.
Faurecia's seat uses two injection moulded sheets of TPU which are designed with cavities and raised areas and vibration welded together with the outer shell to provide both support and flexibility, says Olivier Boinais, industrial design manager at the company.
The version that Faurecia is showing to potential customers leaves the inner structure visible - just as shoe maker Nike leaves the heel structure of its Air tennis shoes on show. However, it can be completely covered.
The seat is not the only manufacturing shift in the Light Attitude concept. Faurecia aims to strip away the cover material on instrument panels and door panels to showcase a compression moulded surface using natural fillers, such as hemp, flax or wood.
The Light Attitude concept intentionally exposes the natural substrate over large swathes of the interior but covers other portions in bright textiles. Traditional hard plastic trim is retained around the steering wheel, instrument cluster and heating and cooling control areas.
While Faurecia is not making predictions about when its new seat or instrument and interior panels will go into production, Hutchins believes the turmoil in the auto industry could provide the opening for new ideas.
And the French company is not alone in its thinking. The latest concept vehicle from Johnson Controls also takes the interior trim back to basics. The re3 concept, which was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, showcased door panels, instrument panels and other interior trim parts that did away with the traditional PVC, urethane or TPO skins and replaced them with a natural fibre resin blend more usually used as a substrate.
By eliminating the skins, JCI claims it can reduce part weight by up to 30% while also simplifying manufacturing.
The concept, named Fibrewood by JCI, is based on compression moulding of thermoplastics containing natural fillers such as kenaf and hemp. The process incorporates a special treatment to create a smooth surface that resists stains and fading.
Beneath the Fibrewood surface, JCI proposes replacing the standard metal cross-car support beam under the instrument panel with a hybrid system that uses both steel and structural plastic sub-structures.
The company sees the surface being very much in line with current design trends towards honesty of materials used in the car interior.
"There's a certain fashion or eco-statement that you're able to make with it. When you look at it, you might think: 'That's not very appealing. That's something I'd buy at the hardware store.' But, when you take that and add leather and chrome and other details to it, you create a whole new design aesthetic for the interior of the vehicle," says Danny Larsen, principal designer for interiors at JCI.
