Festival of Motoring

Volkswagen Partners with German Start-up to Explore the Viability of Incorporating New Innovative and Sustainable Hemp-Based Materials into its Cars 

October 2024

As part of Volkswagen’s well-documented ACCELERATE strategy for establishing altogether more sustainable and environmentally sensitive vehicle production processes, the Wolfsburg-based brand has partnered with Revoltech GmbH to explore the viability of developing an innovative new surface material for the automotive sector.

Called LOVR (standing for leather-free, oil-free, vegan and residue-based), this 100% bio-based leather alternative is sourced from residues from the regional hemp industry.  Together with the Revoltech GmbH start-up, the predevelopment team at Volkswagen is working on this material innovation as a substitute for imitation leather.

“In our search for new materials, we are very open to new ideas from many different industries. At Technical Development, we place a strong focus on innovative, creative and sustainable solutions for holistic, resource-saving vehicle development,” says Kai Grünitz, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Technical Development.

Made from what is known as industrial hemp cultivated for the food industry, LOVR is an all-natural, 100% biological single-layer surface material being developed specifically with the automotive industry in mind. The hemp fibres and a fully bio-based adhesive are combined using a special technology and processed to become a surface material. This product can be integrated into existing large-scale industrial plants and is fully recyclable or compostable once it has reached the end of its service life.

The material has received positive feedback in customer surveys and could be used in vehicle projects from 2028.

“The sustainable use of resources is a key pillar in our ACCELERATE strategy and is therefore firmly anchored in our mindset and actions. Our goal is to fuse customer wishes, sustainability requirements and corporate interests. The cooperation between Revoltech and Volkswagen is a good example of the benefits gained from the targeted collaboration between start-up and established brands – to get new features ready for use in automobiles as swiftly as possible,” says Andreas Walingen, Head of Strategy at the Volkswagen brand.