Toray Aims to be Leading Carbon Fibre Supplier for eVTOLs
Toray Industries, a leading carbon fibre materials’ manufacturer, aims to “get a jump on its competitors” by establishing a primary country base for its development of carbon fibre, specifically focused on supplying the nascent eVTOL industry, reports akihabaranews.com.
That country base is Japan. For according to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shinbun (yet to be officially confirmed), the plan calls for the creation of a facility in the city of Nagoya to include an open lab for joint research with client companies and universities and to host around 140 researchers. This facility is to employ artificial intelligence (AI) with the objective of developing carbon fibre materials for lighter airframes, thus improving the performance of an eVTOL aircraft.
Nagoya is the capital of Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, a manufacturing and shipping hub in central Honshu. It has a population of over 3 million people within an area of around 326 kms.

Toray’s investment for this research base is expected to be close to USD45 million. The facility should be open by 2026. Toray already supplies its carbon fibre materials to Lilium and Joby Aviation and is seen as a leading global player in this market with a manufacturing share of around 30 percent.
Joby Founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt has said that Toray’s materials “provide unparalleled specific strength and toughness, that have enabled Joby to develop aircraft with unprecedented capabilities.”
The partnerships with Lilium and Joby were both announced in 2020.
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(News Source: https://akihabaranews.com/)
(Top image: Lilium)