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26th May 2006

Honda has developed a plant-based fabric for use as a material for car interiors. The ‘Bio-fabric’ offsets all CO2 emissions produced during the disposal stage of the car. The new polyester-based bio-fabric offers sufficient durability and resistance to sunlight to be used for seat surfaces, the interior surfaces of doors and roof, and for floor mats. Honda will install these bio-fabric interiors to the company’s new fuel cell vehicle which will be introduced to the market within the next three years.

A polyester material called PPT (polypropylene terephthalate) is the basic material of the bio-fabric. PPT is produced through polymerization of 1-3PDO (propanediol), which is produced from corn, and terephthalic acid, a petroleum-based component. In order to improve stability as a fabric, Honda applied a multi-thread structure for the fibre. The bio-fabric will enable Honda to reduce energy used during the production process by 10 to 15% compared to the production of petroleum-based polyester materials; the use of a plant-based ingredient can reduce the CO2 emissions of each car by 5kg.

Fellow Japanese manufacturer Toyota has also developed organic materials for car interiors – it has been growing sweet potato crops in Queensland, Australia, to contribute material for dashboards, while Honda buys, and itself grows, soya beans in the US, to fill component containers otherwise returning empty from the US to Japan.

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