Car Design Dialogues Detroit
Sustainable innovation at scale: making responsible materials the norm
CMF experts from Lucid, Slate, Bridge of Weir and Scout explored how the industry can turn promising ideas into viable solutions for the mass market
Sustainability was once seen as a ‘value add’ but is now largely considered the baseline. A standard upon which to build.
Designers know this and the pressure is on to find solutions that can make an impact at meaningful scale – that is, beyond limited experiments. Alongside new discoveries, teams are also carefully considering how materials are sourced, processed, tested and manufactured, all while ensuring the finished vehicle delivers as expected.
At Car Design Dialogues Detroit, CDN was joined by a panel of CMF experts to dig into this:
Christopher Kroener, lead CMF designer at Lucid Motors
Simon Cook, strategic technical director at Bridge of Weir
Aileen Barraza, CMF design director at Scout Motors
Meredith Alves, head of CMF design and craftsmanship at Slate
Their message was clear: sustainability is a continuous team effort and the goalposts are constantly moving. Below are some of the key takeaways from that discussion live on stage.
From concept to production
While the ultimate goal is to scale up, Lucid’s Kroener said not to discount the role of a one-off concept car as it can set the tone moving forward. Reflecting on his prior role at Audi, he explained that new platforms bring an opportunity to try new things. There are parallels with his current employer Lucid, of course, being a relative newcomer to the industry.
“My last car [at Audi] was the Concept C, and with the new design chief stepping in it was a great opportunity to help set the direction for Audi as a brand,” he explained. “There are so many opportunities to bring sustainable materials into a [new] vehicle. In that case, we used a lot of recycled fabric. There was no leather, and the whole idea of mono-material construction was a big part of it.”
Concept cars can help introduce ideas, but their impact depends on whether they go on to influence mass market products. “With a concept car you can tell the story, and then sustainability becomes relevant in mass production," Kroener continued. "You never know what that one concept car could change at a brand, because the response may be ‘this is a cool idea; we should implement it.’ Mass production is key and mandatory for us because it’s our responsibility; it all depends on how you tell that story.”
Barraza pointed to Scout's use of Hempwood as an alternative to conventional wood: fast-growing and widely-available hemp fibres are compressed and bonded to create a durable interior material. “Our approach to sustainability is to create something beautiful using a byproduct of another industry,” Barraza noted. “We took hemp and created something beautiful from it. Getting it from a one-off reveal vehicle to scale and into production, if we pull it off, will be a great feat.”
We have to figure out how to give materials longevity in our ecosystem
In a similar vain, Cook explained how Bridge of Weir has found value in byproducts within its own production stream (beyond leather itself, which is a byproduct of the meat industry). “One of the unique things that comes out of our waste stream at the earliest part of the process is gelatin collagen. At the moment, that waste product goes into the food and cosmetics industry and various other things, but it's low value. We thought we could do something better with that material,” he explained.
“We worked on it for a long time, over many years, and created a hydrolysed protein collagen foam that we're now selling called BioPRO. It replaces 20% of a normal conventional polyurethane seat foam. It’s naturally fire-retardant and we've removed some of the ‘forever chemicals’ from the process.”
Designing beyond the surface
Slate's decision to skip the paint shop avoids a particularly energy-intensive process and puts the brand at a favourable starting point, but Alves maintains that sustainability has to go further than that.
“Not having a paint booth alleviates a lot of the in-your-face waste of materials or solvent-based usage on the exterior, but that’s just one problem we're trying to solve," she said. "We have to dig into more than what the face of the material is and try to figure out how to give it longevity in our ecosystem.”
In the context of material selection, Alves generally looks for solutions that can work across multiple surfaces, reducing the need to develop entirely new constructions for different parts of the car. “We look for materials that can be used in multiple applications. Some materials work well for seating but not for wrapped parts, or vice versa,” she explained.
“We've worked with suppliers to find materials that can be used on multiple surfaces and still meet our truck's performance expectations. We also look for repeatability: one construction that can be produced in many colours through a simple dye bath, rather than requiring a new construction or custom yarns for each application. We're thinking about long-term modularity and variety to meet the brief.”
Transparency, collaboration and compromise
Consumers are now more curious and engaged in the world of sustainability than ever. That means the word alone no longer cuts it — the story has to go deeper, and backed by evidence.
Barraza says designers must really investigate the materials they are considering and not simply accept a supplier's description. “It's not enough for someone to tell me a material is recycled; we need to go in depth,” she affirmed. “What are its sources? What does it contain? How can it be recycled?”
Kroener also warned against focusing only on the visible A-surface of a product and considering the larger mass below it. “When we talk about greenwashing, a cover stock might simply wrap the material underneath. Showing the customer only the face of a material and saying it's sustainable isn't enough,” he explained. “The story has to go beyond the layers and surfaces and consider where suppliers are located and where we're actually sourcing materials.”
Achieving that level of scrutiny requires close working relationships between designers, engineers, purchasing teams and suppliers. “CMF and design are among the biggest drivers of change,” said Cook. “These teams push to make changes and bring new materials into vehicles. They also question old specifications that have been in place for years and ask whether they're still relevant given other changes to the vehicle.”
I love figuring out how we can leave the Earth better than we found it
The challenge is in doing all this while continuing to meet strict automotive requirements for performance, safety and durability. Materials must be sustainable but also not catch fire or degrade in the space of a few years.
“As designers, we try to achieve perfection and make things as good as they can be. But we have to work alongside the supply chain, materials engineering, engineering and purchasing,” Barraza explained. “There are many aspects of CMF where compromise is necessary, but it's important to have a clear idea of what you want to deliver to the customer.”
Durability is one area where it may simply come down to education. If a material looks slightly different over time, that is not to say it no longer performs as intended. Barraza believes designers can help customers understand (and appreciate) the character that materials take on under their ownership.
“Customers expect their vehicle to look amazing from the day they get it to the last day they have it. That brings us back to storytelling. We might use beautiful leather that will wear with you and tell your story, rather than promising it will look exactly the same in ten years. It's about celebrating that connection and the history of your vehicle.”
Sustainability never stops
There are several components to scaling sustainable innovation then. From the raw materials and how they are processed to the construction techniques and marketing narratives that follow. Everything must be carefully considered and deeply transparent. Ideally, parts will be modular and finishes easily applied to various parts of the car, simplifying production and, later, recycling. But will sustainability ever be ‘done’?
“I hope it's an ongoing conversation. I don't think we're ever going to reach a point where we've saved the environment 100%,” said Barraza. “Making the best possible informed decisions as CMF leaders is why I wake up every morning. The challenge I love is figuring out how we leave the Earth better than we found it. It's so important, so we should never reach a milestone where we say we've made it.”
Cook's view is equally pragmatic: meaningful change comes from continuing to question existing practices and finding ways to improve them. “Sustainability never stops,” he said. “We do the best we can today, then ask tomorrow whether we can do better — and keep asking that every day.”
