New Mazda patent filing suggests the brand is working on a carbon fiber chassis

When it comes to saving weight, Mazda is the king of the hill. However, with electrification becoming the norm for future cars, automakers are faced with a steep challenge when it comes to keeping weight low in a car that’s lugging around heavy batteries. Taken at face value, added weight only needs to be offset by additional power, and because hybrids and electric cars are more powerful, there’s no need to worry, right?

Unfortunately, no, heavy vehicles, even if you lower it to the floor, will behave differently compared to a lighter car. Heavy cars are less agile and more unpredictable when taken around corners because of the added weight. For Mazda, an automaker that specializes in cars that have superb handling, they want to save weight wherever possible to keep a car's driving characteristics enjoyable, and they intend to do the same with electric cars.

According to a report by Motor1, Mazda's latest research is aimed at integrating carbon fiber composite chassis components into their upcoming vehicle models. Carbon fiber, renowned for its exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, has long been a staple in motorsports. The downside is that carbon fiber is ridiculously expensive to produce, that’s why you’ll mostly only see carbon fiber parts and carbon fiber chassis in uber-expensive supercars and hypercars. 

As seen in the images from Mazda’s patent filing, their focus lies in incorporating carbon fiber into specific sections of the vehicle, such as the roof pillars, front crash structure, rocker panels, and frame rails. Furthermore, the carbon fiber utilized in these components exhibits varying cross-sectional designs. In technical terms, engineers employ distinct construction methods for carbon fiber parts depending on their intended function. This ensures that the material maintains optimal strength, robustness, and lightness under any directional load. 

With an undertaking as big as this, Mazda isn’t going to tackle it alone. In the document, the patent was also assigned to Nippon Steel Chemical & Material Co., likely Mazda’s partner in this research. 

After reading all that, you’re probably thinking that Mazda already has a specific car in mind where they’ll want to bolt these carbon fiber parts. Sadly, no, the patent filing doesn’t really provide much information in the way of what car it’s supposed to be for. Hopefully, we’ll see the fruits of Mazda’s labor take shape, but today, we wait.

Waiting, however, takes a long time, and if you want to get in a Mazda car right now, you can search for the one that suits you best on AutoDeal.com.ph. Once you have given the Mazda Car Guide a look, you can simply click the “Get Quote” button to get started on your car-buying journey.