General Motors may have a real surprise in its next-generation 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and 2019 GMC Sierra: carbon fiber. Last week, a report claimed the automaker will utilize the lightweight material in the pickup truck’s bed to save weight and increase fuel economy.
It’s a credible rumor, though Chevrolet hasn’t confirmed anything just yet. So, we want to ask if you believe the rumors surrounding the 2019 Silverado and carbon fiber. On the surface, it does make sense. GM has embraced a mixed material strategy for its vehicles and continues to place materials it deems best for the job in various areas. The Cadillac CT6 is a prime example, but other new GM vehicles also incorporate various materials.
Chevy could utilize carbon fiber in the 2019 Silverado, but use traditional high-strength steel and aluminum in other parts of the truck. At this point, it seems unlikely mass amounts of aluminum will be part of the 2019 Silverado; Chevy has called out Ford’s all-aluminum bodies on more than a few occasions to poke fun at the material.
The initial report said range-topping pickups would feature the carbon-fiber beds to start, but production processes could bring the material to more common variants of Silverado in the future. So, will all of that said, do you believe it? Let us know in our poll and talk to us below.
Comments
Reducing weight over the front axle of a pickup would be more beneficial and not potentially sacrifice rear end traction in the wet/snow.
So where on the front end? Obvious answer is a CF hood and quarter panels. But each are subject to a higher probability of collision damage that requires repair, expensive repair. Where as a bed liner can be dented and not need repair.
A CF roof and engine bay mounts and brackets. And even floor pan would be better in my eyes than the bed.
Even with modern traction control the rear end of trucks are pretty trigger happy on slippery surfaces. If CF is on hold for just the higher trim trucks, maybe a return of AWD, or full time AutoTrak with selectable 4hi 4lo to lock the axles if needed.
Or maybe CF is on hold just for a hydrid truck. Provide a structural sheath for the batteries and help offset battery weight.
Or maybe gm could use all aluminum small blocks in the gas-powered trucks. Iron blocks are heavy. Lighter wheels, lighter body panels, and smaller, more efficient brakes would also help. Reducing unsprung mass goes a long way, and GM trucks have a LOT of it. Reducing the weight over the front is the best way of making a truck more efficient and better to drive, but carbon fiber is not the way to go. There’s so many other area of trucks that need improvements and are easy to improve. Until those things get better, we can stick to dealer installed plastic bed liners and spray-in bed liners.
The truth is the back of the trucks are already light hence why people put weight back there so not an issue. Also they trucks already have all aluminum blocks in most applications.
GM has made it clear they will use a mix of materials in the future going forward. the keys will be getting cost down or controlled as much as possible.
GM has been investing heavily as others to perfect cheaper MFG methods for Carbon Fiber. The key is to cut the autoclave time and the build up of the weave of mats. The autoclave time is the real killer as it takes time.
They have been working to make molded carbon fiber but I have not seen where they are on progress.
Also like EV cars unless they create a market for it many will not invest in ways to make it cheaper. If GM can offer it as an option it will help create a market that people may invest in to make it more economical.
We will see a mix of materials in the front part of the truck as we have already but their are limits as you have roof crush standards and crash standards to meet. They already use a lot of aluminum, Boron Steel, plastics and magnesium.
The key selling point here is this is for a high end truck so it will be considered a luxury option at first. Also it will add added capacity for hauling and towing. By making it an option the owner can chose if they want the bed or not. This will tell GM if there is a real market at this time.
I bet it’s the inner bed part that is a CF composite. It will have bee storage like the old avalanche with some newer setups like the Ridgeline.
They have always said they would use the materials best suited for the job. Ford took the all aluminum approach which is a marketing success but has some major shortcomings.
its totally a high end gig. Imagine a commercial, “bed made out of bullet proof Kevlar grade carbon fiber!” Reducing weight really wouldn’t help the fuel economy. Ford dropped by 600lbs, a 10% drop in weight and returned 5% increase in economy. That could have also been attributed to newer motors and aerodynamics. Air drag is the number one killer on fuel economy as almost no acceleration is used on the highway and even high acceleration in city features speeds up to 55-65 mph where wind drag is a huge factor. Its all about style here. For the same price as adding an aluminum body to reduce weight, Chevrolet can add its eboost system(600$ /trujskeabeachck for ford to switch to aluminum, said to be 500$ for eboost) for better returns and additional on demand torque. my guess is its like the 4 wheel steering option, which I hope the bring back as well!
I like the idea of the front end panels (hood fenders etc) being CF…usually replace them if damaged in a collision anyways because it’s cheaper. Wonder how CF does as far as crash performance…it shatters instead of deforming doesn’t it?
Point about repair of front end panels is that CF would be much more expensive to replace. So not an ideal application of CF for those parts. Using CF on other front end components that are less susceptible to collision damage is more appropriate
Maybe on the inner door panels and the roof would work but as a structural component it would seem very expensive for over 100,000 + trucks to be built .
My guess is just that , a guess .
carbon would actually be easy to produce. Already corvettes feature a carbon body. A hood or bed panel could be quickly manufactured along side the corvette panels and then shipped to Silverado. Wt-ltz trims would feature metal beds as seen in the spy shots with carbon as an option for the ltz and standard on high county or even a higher trim.
Id have to look for it but theres a picture of a spy photographer sticking a magnet to the bedside of one of the mules. It did stick
Well it’s obvious they need to take some weight off the 2019 model to increase MPG and improve performance. They way they are going to do this is the question. Carbon Fiber is very expensive so I doubt it will be used for the entire bed. It will be a combination of things.