JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #137 - November/December 2020 - 45

Sustainable composite solution for new Toyota LQ concept car

The polyurethane composite offers a lightweight and
sustainable solution that is based on a combination
of Covestro's advanced Baypreg® F NF technology
and Toyota Boshoku's expertise in the use of kenaf
fibres. The new product is used in the LQ's door trim
panels.
(Source: Toyota)

Car component manufacturer Toyota Boshoku Corporation selected Covestro as partner to jointly develop a
new, particularly lightweight polyurethane composite material for Toyota Motor Corporation's new «LQ» electric concept car.
(Source: Toyota)

Main LQ specifications

Length/Width/Height
(metres)

4.53 / 1.84 / 1.48

Wheelbase (metres)

2.7

Occupancy

Powertrain

BEV (battery electric vehicle)

Vehicle weight (kg)

1,680

EV cruising range (km)

Approx. 300

interview

Hiroaki Ido,
Head of PUR Application Development for
Automotive Solutions Japan & Global Japanese
Transplants
Covestro's Innovation Center in Japan

JEC Composites Magazine: : How did the
project start? What was the initial target?

Hiroaki Ido: In 2018, Toyota Boshoku

High-tech materials
Lightweight materials will play an increasingly important role in future mobility. For
example, they will help to extend the range
of electric cars even further. As a provider
of material solutions, Covestro has a long
experience in the global automotive industry. This includes the market in Japan, where
Covestro's Innovation Centre has already
developed many sustainable solutions, for
instance components for low-density polyurethane foams. Toyota Boshoku Corporation, a car component manufacturer in the
Japanese Toyota Group, chose Covestro as
partner to jointly develop a new polyurethane composite material for the new electric

Light and stiff
The kenaf-fibre-reinforced polyurethane
foam composite is characterized by high
strength and a very low area density of less
than 1 kg/m2, making a door trim panel made of the foam 30% lighter than one
produced from conventional materials. The
lighter the material, the further the car can
travel on a single gas or battery charge. The
new composite material was developed in
close cooperation between Toyota Boshoku
and Covestro's recently renovated Japanese
Innovation Centre.

ration is an automotive interior Tier-1 supplier for Toyota.Covestro Japan joined the
new project when TB asked them to cooperate for the Toyota LQ door trim project in
March 2018. With the advanced technology,
we produced the door trim products for LQ
together with TB at the recently-renovated
Covestro Innovation Center in Japan.

Feature Automotive

nication platforms to provide the occupants
with information. The integrated lighting indicates if the car is in automated or manual
driving mode, and illuminates the floor beneath the passenger Yui is addressing.
The LED-lit dashboard uses organic
light-emitting diodes (OLED), a first at Toyota. The LQ also has a new air-purifying coating that was developed with Aisin Chemical
Co., Ltd. and Cataler Corporation.

The futuristic design includes a passenger
compartment that tapers sleekly towards
the front end. Yui sits right in the centre of
the dashboard, the "inside-out" lines of
which seem to connect the interior with
the exterior.

LQ concept car. The material is being used
in the door trim panels, where it makes its
world premiere in a Toyota model. Offering a lightweight and sustainable solution,
the material is based on a combination of
advanced Baypreg® F NF technology and
Toyota Boshoku's expertise in the use of kenaf fibres. Kenaf is a member of the hibiscus
family. It grows in regions such as South East
Asia, Bangladesh, India and Africa. The fibre,
which is obtained from the plant's bast fibres,
has recently attracted increasing attention as
a cost-effective alternative raw material with
good mechanical properties, including in the
automotive industry.

/ jec composites magazine

"More than 50% of the advanced
product consists of natural fibre"
(TB) focused on our new technology - Advanced Baypreg® F NF - as a lightweight
solution for the door trim of Toyota's new
concept car, the LQ.
After testing various materials, TB concluded that only our technology could achieve
their development target: an area density of
less than 1 kg/m2. Toyota Boshoku Corpo-

N°137 November - December 2020

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #137 - November/December 2020

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