BAC is the first manufacturer in the world to develop a car featuring panels made from graphene, the innovative and lightweight material that brings weight and strength benefits.
BAC partnered with Haydale Composite Solutions to create rear wheel arches made out of graphene, and has been putting the material through its paces on the Mono, the world’s only road-legal single-seater supercar.
Graphene is made of sheets of carbon just one atom thick, and is significantly lighter than standard carbon fibre. It is also stronger than carbon fibre, meaning that it can bring weight reductions of around 20 percent, while being 200 times stronger than steel. These benefits could have implications for cost, performance and fuel economy when applied wider in the car manufacturing process.
BAC chose to test the use of graphene on the rear wheel arches due to the size and complexity of the part, to thoroughly test the manufacturing process and how the material fitted in with the vehicle.
Bespoke supercar manufacturer BAC (Briggs Automotive Company) is based in Liverpool and was co-founded by brothers Ian and Neill Briggs. It produces the fast and highly acclaimed Mono supercar, a single-seater formula-style car that aims to provide a visceral driving experience.
Since its launch in 2011, the BAC Mono has been going from strength to strength and is now sold in several markets around the world. It launched with great success and fanfare in Hong Kong at the end of 2015, with eight cars sold in a single night. BAC dealers can also be found in North America, Japan and London.
The 2016 model-year version of the Mono comes with an all-new 2.5-litre 305bhp 4-cylinder Mountune engine, which takes the 580kg car from zero to 100km/h in under 3 seconds.
