Quote:
Originally Posted by RedDevil
I'd love to have a car made of nitinol. But I fear I could not afford one.
It depends on who you'd ask and the quality of the material but nitinol is priced at over $100 dollar per pound. So if you'd replace a steel body with nitinol you'd add tens of thousands to the cost.
Even if you change just the most vulnerable parts several thousands would be added to the price. If you don't get involved in a good number of fender benders you'd never recoup the cost. And if the accident shears off or rips part of the nitinol then the repairs would be far more costly than if it would have been steel.
|
Good point!
I wonder what economies of scale would do for nitinol prices?
Then there's the question of what is the lifetime and ecological cost of:
1 car per ~50 years (thumb suck average, with Boric Acid lubricant)
vs
1 car per ~5 years..?
As car makers want to sell as many cars as they possibly can, we'll never know.