It can grow up to three feet in a day, and one day it just might be part your new Ford. Bamboo is one of the world’s strongest natural materials and one of the fastest to regenerate. For the past several years, Ford has been researching viable ways to combine bamboo with plastic to create an incredibly hard material for surfaces inside its vehicles.

While recent years have seen the development of new materials like super strong carbon fiber and lightweight aluminum, the benefits of bamboo have been known for over a century. In fact, Thomas Edison experimented with it as part of his first light bulb. Bamboo is stronger than even some metals, due to its tensile strength or ability to resist being pulled apart. Bamboo can also grow to maturity in just two years, compared to decades for other plants.

Bamboo has tested better than other synthetic and natural materials in a range of tests, including tensile strength and impact strength. Even when heated to more than 212 degrees, bamboo maintains its strength and integrity.

“Bamboo is amazing,” said Janet Yin, Materials Engineering Supervisor at Ford’s Nanjing Research & Engineering Centre. “It’s strong, flexible, totally renewable, and plentiful in China and many other parts of Asia.”

Bamboo isn’t the only natural and sustainable material Ford is working with. The Ford Escape’s door bolsters are made with kenaf, a tropical plant in the cotton family, and the Ford F-150 includes REPREVE fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. REPREVE reuses up to 5 million plastic bottles from landfills every year.

At 3Birds Template, we’re gratified and proud of Ford’s ongoing research into sustainable and renewable materials. Combined with the numerous fuel-friendly vehicles in the latest Ford lineup, the automaker is making a significant contribution toward creating a greener future for us all.

Image Credit: Ford