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Ford Advanced Materials Car (pictures)

Ford unveiled a new direction in its research for fuel economy, the Advanced Materials Car. This car uses carbon fiber, aluminum, and other materials in place of traditional steel.

Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
Wayne Cunningham
Ford Advanced Materials Car
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Ford's Advanced Materials Car demonstrates the company's research in using new, lightweight materials. Shedding weight from vehicle leads to better fuel economy and handling.

Ford Advanced Materials Car
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Ford is currently using its Fusion model to test advanced materials. This model has a wrap that shows which components have been replaced.

Ford Advanced Materials Car
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The windshield uses a treated glass, similar to that developed for smartphones, which is thin, light, and scratch-resistant, while remaining tough enough for automotive use.

Ford Advanced Materials Car
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The rear window, or backlight, is made of a polycarbonate similar to that used in headlight lenses.

Ford Advanced Materials Car
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Ford took significant weight out of the seats by replacing the metal frames with carbon fiber. This carbon fiber seat frame is exceptionally light.

Ford Advanced Materials Car
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Carbon fiber wheels are a huge weight savings for the car, even over alloy wheels.

Ford Advanced Materials Car
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Ford not only used aluminum for exterior body panels, but replaced suspension components with cast aluminum and other materials.

Ford Advanced Materials Car
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These resin coil-over springs are much lighter than the production steel springs. Ford is testing them in this concept for durability and ride quality.

Ford Advanced Materials Car
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Aluminum connecting rods in the Advanced Material Car's 1-liter engine save 40 percent of the weight of steel rods.

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Aluminum transmission components are every bit as strong, but much lighter than their steel counterparts.

Ford Advanced Materials Car
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Ford also showed off this new battery being developed by Samsung. On the left is a traditional lead-acid battery, and on the right a combination lead-acid and lithium-ion battery. The latter is much smaller and lighter.

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