Forbes Speaks With Carbon Revolution CEO, Jake Dingle

We’ve said before that Carbon Revolution believes the automotive wheel industry is ripe for disruption, particularly with the growing popularity of electric vehicles. Jake Dingle, CEO of Carbon Revolution, spoke with Forbes about how the company is poised to be a larger part of the growing population of electric vehicles – positioning the company to capture an increasing share of the aluminium wheel market.

Go farther

Carbon Revolution wheels have already proven to not only be stronger, but also far lighter than traditional aluminium wheels. This reduction in weight will have a significant impact on the range of electric vehicles – which is crucial as range anxiety remains a primary barrier for the adoption of electric vehicles. With Carbon Revolution wheels, electric vehicles will go farther using the same amount of energy.

More Upsides

As with any car, reducing un-sprung, rotating weight while maintaining or even increasing wheel strength will provide benefits for the overall performance of any car – including EVs.

But the additional benefits for EVs include the reduced road noise due to the natural damping qualities of carbon fibre. With no engine noise in EVs, the road noise transmitted through the wheels is dominant and problematic. By reducing noise in the cabin by five decibels one piece carbon fibre wheels solve another key EV problem.

Sports cars today, your SUV tomorrow

Carbon Revolution wheels are available on cars like the Ford GT and GT500 Shelby Mustang, and the Ferrari 296 GTB at prices that reflect the pricing of those vehicles. But looking ahead, the costs to produce the wheels will be driven down by not only increased demand but also with a reduction in manufacturing costs. A large part of this strategy is the company’s industrialisation strategy which involves the coming mega line factory.

On the horizon is an expansion to the SUV/pickup-truck category.

Read the full article on Forbes.com here.