A publicly listed company, Carbon Revolution now makes wheels for eight Ferrari models as well as for Renault and Ford. It has made more than 40,000 wheels to date.
Its CEO and managing director Jake Dingle said: “At a time when a lot of our development and production is broadening to include electric vehicles, SUVs and pick-up trucks, it is both exciting and important for Carbon Revolution to continue to innovate our product and manufacturing technologies to meet extreme demands of Ferrari’s latest high-performance vehicle.”
“We are supplying wheels for some of the most prestigious automotive brands in the world.”
Carbon Revolution’s lightweight carbon-fibre wheels are regarded as one of the most complex carbon-fibre products produced anywhere in the world.
The company now manufactures wheels for three OEMs but has 16 wheel development and production programs underway with six global OEMs in the automotive industry and a strong take-up in the prestige car segment.
Ferrari 812 Competizione
Mr Dingle said he sees further significant growth in the rapidly developing electric vehicle market.
“Carbon-fibre wheel technology will significantly enhance electric vehicle range through weight savings and improved aerodynamics,” he said.
“But there is no reason to restrict ourselves to cars. We are working on a helicopter wheel design, while major aircraft manufacturers have also expressed an interest in the transferability of our technology. Industrial applications are next.”
Mr Dingle pointed to the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre’s 2020 report that said “Australian manufacturing’s strongest opportunity to succeed on a global scale is to differentiate through outstanding technical leadership.”
He said investing in research and development, building a highly-skilled workforce and collaborating with research institutions all feed into this technical leadership “and we are very proud of our ongoing relationship with Deakin University.”
“This partnership offers access to state-of-the-art laboratory and testing facilities as well as research capabilities that are truly world-class,” he said.
Carbon Revolution’s four-part mega-line is expected to provide additional manufacturing capacity of about 75,000 wheels a year, more than doubling its total capacity to 155,000 wheels.
Importantly, it will reduce labour per wheel from around 17 hours to less than 10 hours.
Jake Dingle
Mr Dingle said the first of four planned mega-lines for the Geelong facility is a “step change in production scale and economics will enable Carbon Revolution to deliver large volume programs to a broader cross-section of the market.”
Ferrari showed its new 812 model with Carbon Revolution’s one-piece carbon-fibre road wheels at a public event at Club Competizione Ferrari’s test track in Italy.
Ferrari’s Enrico Galliera said: “Performance is key for this car. Being inspired by racing there has been extensive work on the weight. We have extensively used carbon-fibre.”
Carbon Revolution engineering and design director Dr Ash Denmead said the company was challenged to produce an extremely light wheel for Ferrari that could meet extreme load requirements.
“The ability to deliver a wheel of such low weight that can handle the combination of aerodynamic downforce and engine performance of this car is truly a great engineering feat,” he said.
Mr Dingle said it was an honour for his company to be named by Ferrari alongside other technology partners including Apple, HP, Bosch and Brembo.
By Neil Dowling
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