#Composites

2023-11-30

Carbon Revolution plans for additional factory to meet growing demand: Automotive News

In a recent interview with Automotive News Carbon Revolution CEO, Jake Dingle, discussed plans to expand production globally, adding hundreds of thousands of units of annual production capacity of its lightweight carbon fibre automotive wheels.

Dingle said expansion and additional production facilities would be essential to fulfil growing demands for Carbon Revolution wheels. He cited the company’s $730 million backlog and the increasing demand from electric vehicles, large pickups, SUVs and crossovers.

The 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse represents an expansion of Carbon Revolution carbon fibre wheels into a “core” Ford vehicle program. © 2023 Carbon Revolution

Adding capacity in North America

“We’re getting ourselves prepared for a facility that will be in North America, quite possibly Mexico, that can service our North American customers and customers in other parts of the world,” Dingle told?Automotive News.

Dingle said Carbon Revolution wants its new facility to be open in coming years, and said the company is already looking at locations and partners that could support a “fairly rapid” scale-up of production.

Meeting growing demand for EV wheels

Carbon Revolution has been awarded 18 OEM carbon fibre wheels programs to-date, from OEMs including Ford, General Motors, JLR, Ferrari and Renault.

Dingle said Carbon Revolution has seen a significant jump in sales backlog1, which has more than doubled to USD $730 million since October 2022, with about half of this demand slated for EVs.

“The adoption of this technology, particularly for larger pickups and SUVs, is driving our backlog,” he said.

Although Carbon Revolution’s lightweight wheel technology was initially taken up by OEMs seeking to improve efficiency in niche performance segments, there has been a significant shift in demand in recent times.

Automakers are looking to shed weight from heavy electric vehicles as they proliferate in global markets, to keep them within class weight limits and to boost their range and efficiency. Carbon Revolution wheels are up to 40-50% lighter than conventional aluminium wheels and can boost EV range by 5-10%2.

The 2024 Range Rover Sport SV is the first SUV to feature OEM Carbon Revolution carbon fibre wheels. © 2023 Carbon Revolution

Additional facility modelled on high-tech Australian plant

Carbon Revolution has invested significant capital and IP in its current facility in Waurn Ponds, Australia. It continues to build capacity with the objective of reaching at least 70,000 wheels per year. Dingle said the additional plant would be modelled on the plant in Australia.

“One of the key decision criteria always has been that we must be able to automate and must be able to scale up. We avoid any aspect of manufacturing that would strain that scale-up,” he said.

Carbon Revolution listed on Nasdaq as CREV from 3 November 2023, which Dingle said was an important step to enable the company to expand globally and service its global customer base.

Corvette Z06 outside Carbon Revolution’s factory in Waurn Ponds, Australia. © 2023 Carbon Revolution

1 Backlog as of 10/31/2022 and 9/30/2023. Backlog (remaining lifetime gross program projected revenue) is based on awarded programs and excludes programs that are contracted for engineering. Please see Disclaimer, Risk Factors and Projection Methodologies for important details in the Investor Presentation – November 2023 here.

2 If associated weight reduction were to be reinvested in battery mass. Top end of range assumes further benefits derived from additional aerodynamic, NVH, and structural enhancements.

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