his point was that carbon is not the right material to use for this application. You can still keep composite parts, just choose ones that are actually the best material for the job, and the fact is that CF is actually quite low on the list of fibers you would choose to design this if you were in the industry. Same reason people put kevlar in stuff, it's all to charge marketing premiums, it is rarely the best material.
If you wanted to use the actual best material for this application and still maintain the weight savings, you would go with a basalt/polypropylene hybrid that would keep your weight about the same, and dramatically increase your damage tolerance. Trying not to be rude, but these guys are trying to take advantage of the carbon to make more money, which is fine, but it is 100% the wrong material for this application.
Proof you might ask? Here's proof
What happens when you throw a Nova Craft Tuff Stuff canoe off a 100-foot building? | Canoe & Kayak Magazine
If you did what they did with carbon fiber, the canoe would have shattered beyond repair. They took this and went paddling with it. Sure it leaked a bit of water, but it wasn't destroyed. This weighs maybe 10% more than carbon fiber in a similar strength laminate, costs less than half of carbon, is better on the environment than carbon, and the 10% weight you gain is maybe a pound, negligible at these weights. Biased because I helped design it, but you can bet the farm that we did a full evaluation on carbon as well. Too expensive, too many compromises in durability. It's stronger than hell, but it's not tough. You don't need strong in a DPV, you need tough. When you deal with 100% cf this usually comes in many extra layers of CF to increase the toughness, which comes at unnecessary cost increases, and removes the benefit of using CF, which is to get the stiffest possible parts at the thinnest cross sections, and the lightest possible part, this is when millimeters and ounces matter. DPV's don't need that, and Bonex can provide literally 0 reason for using CF other than the marketing/sexy side of it because there are better materials out there.
Argue all you want, but carbon is not the right answer. I have no problem with them using it, it will work just fine, but if you want the actual best solution that is also conveniently cheaper, carbon is not the answer for anything except the blades, which are still plastic. You could sell the Discovery RS for $7500 with those changes, have the same dollar contribution, and have a superior scooter design. Sell the CF version for those who want to say they have a carbon scooter and save a pound or maybe two.
Good on you guys if you're selling $9k scooters, they're brilliant, wish I could afford one. It's something that will work, but is completely excessive and unnecessary for the application and doesn't bring any practical benefits to the unit.
