- #36
Unrest
- 360
- 1
Vinni said:but the plastic combustal engine was made practical in 1980 or so! Literally making cars far lighter
It's not clear that there would be much benefit. Car buyers don't want light-weight cars and they don't want fuel efficient cars. This is demonstrated by all the over-sized and over-powered cars that people choose to buy. When was the last time you saw a 3-wheeled covered motorcycle? Many people don't need much more than that but they still buy much more.
The production cost may actually be higher. The article mentioned longer cycle times. There are also all the metal inserts that are needed on a plastic engine, but can be cast directly into a metal block.
Furthermore, this material is likely to be non-recyclable (it's a thermoset), and produced from oil (ever increasing cost). Aluminium and steel are heavily recycled, which makes them more sustainable.