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Composites

Cupra opts for flax composites

World-first series natural fibre bucket seat commercialised within an extremely short timeframe.

23rd May 2024

Innovation in Textiles
 |  Spain

Transport/​Aerospace

Fast-rising Spanish car manufacturer Cupra is using Bcomp’s flax composites for the bucket seats of its latest Born VZ electric vehicle.

Cupra’s collaboration with Bcomp and Italian seat manufacturer Sabelt has resulted in the creation of the first fully natural fibre seats replacing seatbacks currently made from carbon and glass fibres to achieve significant reductions in emissions.

Bcomp’s proprietary ampliTex material reduces CO2 emissions by 49% while also offering end-of-life options. Other benefits include enhanced vibration damping and increased safety and the ampliTex natural fibre provides both the structural layer and the visual surface.

The collaboration also reflects rapid integration into the car platform production process.

© Cupra

“This collaboration has delivered a world-first series high-performance natural fibre bucket seat within an extremely short timeframe, challenging standard automotive go-to-market timelines,” said Per Mårtensson, chief revenue officer at Bcomp. “We at Bcomp are happy to prove once again that we can deliver quality competitive products for the large volume market that offer a much more sustainable solution to automotive interiors than standard materials.”

The Cupra Born VZ delivers impressive performance with 322 horsepower and an instant torque of 545 Newton-metres, allowing the vehicle to accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in just 5.7 seconds and reach a top speed of 200km/h.

www.bcomp.com 

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