Victorian carbon fibre wheel manufacturer, Carbon Revolution, has entered into a new supplier contract with a new OEM customer.
The contract will see Carbon Revolution supplying its products for the first time into the SUV market. As part of the agreement, Carbon Revolution will supply one-piece carbon fibre wheels designed to order for a yet to be named global automotive company.
Carbon Revolution has previously supplied wheels to brands including Ferrari, Ford, and Renault, however the nature of this contract marks a turning point, said CEO, Jake Dingle.
“This is a new customer for Carbon Revolution, meaning we now have five globally-recognised automotive manufacturers who have placed faith in our product.”
With the finalisation of the agreement, Carbon Revolution will continue to grow its manufacturing facilities near Geelong.
“With this new programme we now have nine OEM programmes and are seeing manufacturing efficiency and precision benefits from the recent process and equipment upgrades at our Waurn Ponds factory. We continue to look at additional opportunities for our market-leading carbon fibre wheels and invest in research and development,” said Dingle.
Carbon Revolution’s wheels have been used in high performance vehicles as well as street cars. The most recent agreement extends the range of applications of the wheels.
“SUVs represent a very important new segment of the market for Carbon Revolution, broadening our horizons as we build the business. We have been working on applications for this segment for a number of years leading up to this award, so this is a very important milestone for the team,” said Dingle.
The wheels that Carbon Revolution have designed have been used to set new lap records at motorsport venues such as the Nürburgring. The qualities of carbon fibre as a material reduce weight while also increasing performance. These are realised through a reduction in unsprung rotational mass, which contributes to better steering feel and traction, as well as improving accelerating and braking response. In contrast to aluminium wheels, carbon fibre wheels have lower inertia.