Ford teams up with Heinz for tomato car parts

Ford and Getty Images

Forget carbonfibre, the new must-have material on your vehicle will soon be tomato fibre – or so Ford and food manufacturer Heinz are hoping.

The American carmaker and the food giant have teamed up to "explore the use of tomato fibre to develop a sustainable bio-plastic material for vehicles," bringing environmentally friendly motoring to a whole new level.

The composite material development programme is looking into creating anything from car wing brackets to interior storage bins from – believe it or not – dried tomato skins.

Ellen Lee, Ford plastics research specialist, said:

"We are exploring whether this food processing by-product makes sense for an automotive application. Our goal is to develop a strong, lightweight material that meets our vehicle requirements, while at the same time reducing our overall environmental impact."

The newly developed material has the potential to reduce overall vehicle mass – in turn improving fuel economy and reducing CO2 emissions.

According to rival mass-market vehicle manufacturer Renault, saving 10kg of weight equates to a 1g/km CO2 emissions reduction.

This doesn’t sound much, but by optimising a number of parts this could significantly reduce a car’s weight, potentially dropping it into a lower car tax band.

Together with taxation savings, the cost of materials and manufacturing should also be cheaper than metal components, meaning tomato fibre car parts could, in theory, help keep new car costs down in the future.

Heinz throws away two million tons of tomatoes every year in making its best-selling Heinz Ketchup, so to use this by-product could prove – ahem – fruitful for Ford.

Despite Ford pioneering research into food, it’s not the first time we’ve seen car parts made from organic matter.

The Volkswagen Fox city car sported roof lining and a parcel shelf made out of pulped pineapple, again to save weight and cost. Mixed with a recyclable synthetic material, it was a success.

Ford isn’t limiting its innovative research to a partnership with just Heinz, either. It’s also working with Coca-Cola, Nike and Procter & Gamble to further development of plant-based bio-plastics to reduce the quantity of non-recyclable materials found in new cars.

So when might we actually see this material on-sale in a Ford production car? According to Heinz’s research and development associate director, the concept is not too far away from being viable.

"We are delighted that the technology has been validated. Although we are in the very early stages of research, and many questions remain, we are excited about the possibilities this could produce for both Heinz and Ford, and the advancement of sustainable 100% plant-based plastics."

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By Sean Carson, Motoring Research