Automotive Composites for Transportation and Alternative Energy
Lightweight Structures. Complex Shapes. Built for Transportation.
Custom Automotive Composites for Transportation Manufacturers
Transportation components must meet demanding requirements for strength, stiffness, weight, appearance, and dimensional accuracy. Composite materials allow manufacturers to create large, complex structures while reducing the need for multiple fabricated sections.
Performance Composites manufactures custom components based on OEM drawings, material specifications, and production requirements.
Our transportation applications include:
- Front and Rear Vehicle Endcaps
- Exterior Body Panels and Fairings
- Composite Bus Panels
- Rail Vehicle Interior and Exterior Panels
- Electric Vehicle Battery Trays and Enclosures
- Truck Roof Fairings
- Consoles and Dashboards
- Flooring and Wheel Wells
- Window Masks and Driver Surrounds
- Large One-Piece Composite Structures
Our team supports prototype development, specialized components, and repeat production.
Lightweight Composites for Transportation
Vehicle manufacturers must balance structural performance, component weight, durability, and production costs. Fiberglass and carbon fiber offer alternatives to conventional metal construction when these requirements call for a different manufacturing approach.
Lightweight composites for transportation provide several potential advantages:
- Reduced Weight Compared with Certain Metal Designs
- High Strength-to-Weight Ratios
- Tailored Structural Stiffness
- Corrosion Resistance
- Complex Molded Geometries
- Smooth Exterior Surfaces
- Integrated Structural Features
Actual performance depends on reinforcement selection, laminate construction, component geometry, and intended operating conditions.
Composite Bus Panels and Vehicle Endcaps
Front and Rear Bus Endcaps
Exterior Bus Body Panels
Interior Bus Components
Composite Components for Rail Transportation
Rail vehicles require components that accommodate passenger use, equipment access, maintenance requirements, and vehicle geometry.
Composite materials allow manufacturers to produce custom interior and exterior structures without relying entirely on conventional formed metal panels.
Applications include:
- Interior Wall and Ceiling Panels
- Window Surrounds
- Driver Cab Components
- Exterior Covers and Fairings
- Equipment Housings
- Custom Molded Structural Panels
Rail components may require specific fire, smoke, toxicity, and structural performance standards. Applicable requirements must be established and verified for each project.
Electric Vehicle Battery Trays and Enclosures
Fiberglass Battery Enclosures
Composite Battery Trays
Custom Mounting and Assembly Features
Composite Truck Fairings and Aerodynamic Panels
Semi Truck Roof Fairings
Performance Composites worked with an electric vehicle OEM to develop a large, one-piece composite roof fairing using vacuum infusion. The project required internal supports and mounting hardware to be positioned within ±1 mm so the roof assembly could fit a metallic truck cab.
This project demonstrates the importance of dimensional accuracy when manufacturing large composite structures.
Exterior Fairings and Body Panels
Metal-to-Composite Fairing Conversion
Large One-Piece Composite Structures
Fiberglass is particularly suitable for large shell-shaped transportation components, including structures designed using monocoque construction. A monocoque structure carries loads primarily through its outer shell rather than relying entirely on a separate internal frame.
Composite manufacturing allows reinforcement to be incorporated into molded structures according to the component’s intended loading conditions. Applications may include vehicle endcaps, body shells, fairings, and specialized transportation housings. The appropriate construction depends on the component’s structural requirements and manufacturing specifications.
Fiberglass and Carbon Fiber for Transportation
Performance Composites works with fiberglass, carbon fiber, and advanced composite materials. Fiberglass offers corrosion resistance, design flexibility, and compatibility with large molded transportation components. It is commonly used for exterior body panels, endcaps, and equipment housings.
Carbon fiber provides high stiffness relative to weight and may be selected for components where weight and mechanical performance are important considerations. Composite sandwich construction combines reinforced skins with lightweight foam or honeycomb cores. This approach can increase bending stiffness without requiring thicker solid laminates. Material selection depends on the component’s intended application, structural requirements, and production objectives.
Transportation Composite Tooling and Manufacturing
Large vehicle components require tooling that establishes the intended geometry and supports repeatable production.
Performance Composites provides in-house tooling and multiple manufacturing processes for custom transportation applications.
Our capabilities include:
- CAD-Based Tooling Development
- CNC-Machined Masters
- Prototype and Production Molds
- Vacuum Infusion
- Light Resin Transfer Molding
- Prepreg Manufacturing
- Hand Layup and Spray Layup
- CNC Routing and Trimming
- Hardware Installation
- Painting and Surface Finishing
The manufacturing process is selected according to component size, material requirements, surface specifications, and production quantities.
OEM Automotive Finishing and Assembly
Transportation manufacturers often require components with completed surface finishes and installed mounting hardware.
Performance Composites provides painting, machining, and assembly services to prepare parts for customer production lines.
Our services support:
- Class A Painted Surfaces
- OEM Automotive Paint Specifications
- CNC-Machined Cutouts
- Drilled Mounting Features
- Threaded Inserts
- Bracket Installation
- Hardware Integration
- Final Assembly
- Packaging and Crating
Finishing and assembly requirements are established according to customer drawings and approved specifications.
Quality Control for Transportation Composites
Dimensional accuracy is essential when composite components must fit vehicle structures, mounting hardware, and surrounding assemblies. Performance Composites operates under an ISO 9001:2015 certified quality management system.
Our inspection capabilities include coordinate measuring machines (CMM), Romer arm measurement, and 3D scanning. These tools support dimensional verification of component geometry, critical features, and assembly interfaces. Required tolerances are established according to customer specifications.
Transportation Composite Manufacturing in California and Nevada
Compton, California
Reno, Nevada
Transportation Composite Manufacturing Service Areas
Performance Composites serves commercial vehicle, bus, rail, and electric transportation manufacturers nationwide.
Our western service areas include:
- California
- Nevada
- Arizona
- Utah
- Oregon
- Washington
- Colorado
- Idaho
OEMs in these states can submit drawings, material specifications, and production requirements for manufacturing evaluation.
Why Transportation OEMs Work with Performance Composites
With more than 40 years of composite manufacturing experience, Performance Composites supports specialized transportation projects from prototype development through production.
Our in-house tooling department, multiple fabrication methods, CNC machining capabilities, and finishing operations allow customers to coordinate several manufacturing stages with one supplier. We manufacture custom fiberglass and carbon fiber components according to approved OEM specifications, including large molded structures and ready-for-assembly products.