Search:

Škoda’s pathway to biological raw materials for automotive

Imagine having your dashboard made from plant-based materials. It’s not as far off as you might think says Škoda,

Sep 23, 2021

Škoda will be making even greater use of natural and recycled materials in the production of future models.

In collaboration with the technical university of Liberec, Škoda auto’s technical development department has developed a sustainable, ecological material and applied for a patent. The innovative raw material is made from sugar beet pulp.

Škoda auto is also researching another material based on the reed plant miscanthus. Both could be used in the interior of new Škoda models in the future, for example for the door trim and decorative inlays in the dashboard.

Using a purpose-built Octavia, Škoda is demonstrating the wide range of possible applications for these new materials in an automotive context.

Škoda is aiming to play a pioneering role in the area of sustainability and are taking a holistic approach to this issue, and we are addressing much more than just the CO2 emissions of our vehicle fleet; we are also focusing on researching and using ecologically sourced materials and investigating, for example, how materials such as coconut fibres or rice husks can be used in the future.”

Škoda has already applied for a patent on one material that is ideally suited for use in the interior of its vehicles; the car manufacturer uses a special process to dye sugar beet pulp to create design accents in the interior.

The car manufacturer obtains the material directly from the town of Dobrovice, not far from its headquarters in Mladá Boleslav. This avoids long supply chains and optimises the CO2 footprint.

 

Škoda has obtained another sustainable material from the reed miscanthus: The fibres can be processed and used for the door trim, for example. Organic residues from production make excellent ecological raw materials, as they can be processed further without the need for additional resources. This reduces the requirement for industrially produced raw materials.

From raw material to the vehicle: a walk-through Octavia demonstrator

In partnership with the Technical University of Liberec, Škoda is continuously working on innovative and sustainable materials that can be used in vehicle production. Škoda is trialling new basic materials in an Octavia specially prepared for this purpose.