Beth, the description of the material is a lightweight leather replacement with a feel and drape similar to leather. Personally, I'm not fond of synthetic clothing material, but many people are. And fashion is, well, fashion.
The original Mr. Lamborghini who started the car company made his fortune manufacturing tractors. From the wikipedia article, it doesn't sound like his family was wealthy, but he wasn't working his way up from the slums; they grew grapes, a suitably aristocratic occupation.
Charles, I think the type of customer determines the use of material. Most exotic car owners pursue making a statement via cutting edge engineering - cost is secondary.
It must be nice to own something that is super fine.
Remember that although Lambo is a relatvely 'small' company, they are owned by Volkswagen, probably the world's biggest automaker. If this carbon upholstery concept is as durable and light weight as it would seem, I could see where eventually it could be feasable for mainstream use, where the economy of scale might make it cost effective. Reducing overall automobile weight is the single cheapest way to improve fuel economy.
re: " It is interesting that a car company, with volumes this low, should have a composites research center."
I don't find that exceptional at all. When you are selling a product that is at least one to two orders of magnitude greater than the typical product in that category, it is very understandable that there would be some "pennies" left over for some investigatory work.
Don't lose sight of the fact that a typical "oil change" for a FERRARI, LAMBORGHINI, etc. is over $1000. That's a lot of oil changes down at your local SPEEDY-LUBE!!!!!
re: "It seems that many non-US sports car companies are run by, or were at least begun by, members of the upper classes, at least in England and Italy, as expensive hobbies."
I MAY BE way off base, but do I detect a note of either sarcasm, elitist envy, or jealosy in that statement? IF any of the above are true, I would ask you the trite question, ' when was the last time you got a job from a poor person?'
Every day of my working career I thanked GOD that the owner of the company that I worked for HAD his yachts, his fancy autos, his vacation houses, etc. IF it were for their fortitude, persistence, & plain old "guts", I would not have had the successful career that I had.
Ann, I'm curious why they chose to use carbon fiber on upholstery, center console, instrument panel, and inner door panel. I understand the weight advantages of carbon fibers on the chassis and exterior, but it seems like there would be a big cost penalty. What's the advantage?
What would the appeal be of such a carbon fiber material for clothing? Would it be form or feel? Not sure I'm getting my arms around those design sensibilities.
As energy efficiency becomes more and more a concern for makers of electronics devices, researchers are coming up with new ways to harvest energy from sound vibration, footsteps, and even electromagnetic fields in the air.
The government wants to study your brain, and DARPA wants to use similar information to give robots true autonomy beyond any artificial intelligence developed to date. Sound like science fiction? It's not.
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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