Get To Know Kenaf & Ramie Plants (and Other Sustainable Materials as Car Interior Components).
Sustainability. Sustainability. Sustainability.
Suppose you’re reading those three words, and they remind you of an enchantment’s sound. If that’s the case, they can be a form of enchantment and are currently being chanted loud and clear now and then, if not every single day, due to the ongoing environmental crises.
That is why, for example, a ban on using fossil fuels to combat climate change and global warming exists, particularly within the automotive industry. And that is also why we are seeing car manufacturers’ collective shift towards hybridization and electrification.
However, we are not here to delve deeper into said issues because we can always go online and read all about them from here and here as a couple of reading sources.
Instead, let’s briefly discuss the ongoing and current implementation of ecologically friendly or sustainable technologies and materials in the car industry.
When it comes to implementing ecologically friendly technology, it’s a practice that started way back in the 1900s; hence, we now have HEVs (hybrid electric vehicles), PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles), and BEVs (battery electric vehicles).
Along the way, these manufacturers developed and manufactured equally eco-friendly materials to complement the technology, as there can be questions on the intent of manufacturing cars utilizing eco-friendly technology but fitting them with ecologically unfriendly materials, right?
Take Toyota and the Prius as an example.
A brief history: Toyota first manufactured the Prius in 1997, making it the world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle. Then, in 2001, Toyota began developing biodegradable plastics made from sweet potatoes through its biotech company.
A while after, the second-generation and Japan-only Raum MPV unveiled in 2003 became the first Toyota production car fitted with plant-based plastic or eco-plastic interior components.
Next, with the unveiling of the third-generation Prius in 2009, Toyota has also fitted it with plant-based door trim using sustainable natural fibers from two types of crops: kenaf and ramie.
Right then, what are kenaf and ramie?
Kenaf is a member of the hibiscus family related to the cotton and the okra. Meanwhile, ramie comes from the nettle family native to Eastern Asia.
The fibers from these two crops are the vegan alternative to worm silk. Compared to cotton, ramie fibers have six times the strength and durability. They are also breathable, highly absorbent, stain-resistant, and resistant against mildew and bacteria attacks.
Other eco-friendly vehicles like the BMW i3, Nissan Leaf, and Polestar 2 have equally sustainable interior components and materials.
The BMW i3, for example, incorporates natural fibers for most of its interior panels, a Forest Stewardship Council-certified open-pore eucalyptus wood trim, and olive leaves as the dye for the vegan leather.
Meanwhile, recycled materials are the central theme of Nissan and Volvo’s interiors.
The Leaf’s seats and cushions are from recycled plastics, its interior insulation is from recycled clothes, and many of its metal panels are from recycled metal appliances. The Polestar 2 uses recycled cork waste products to form much of the “plastic” panels, and the floor carpeting is from recycled fishing nets.
Having all of these natural components and materials sounds exciting. More importantly, are eco-friendly and sustainable interiors sufficient to answer the call to sustainability?
The answer is a resounding yes, judging from the properties of kenaf and ramie and the benefits of using other recycled/post-consumer materials. Implementing sustainability can trickle down to ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles.
