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Many competitive headliner substrate materials were tested to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each material including new headliner materials such as those on the 97 Ford Expedition, 96 Chevrolet Cavalier, 97 GM G Van, 96 Ford Contour, and 96 Chrysler Cirrus, all of which are urethane/foam/glass layered substrates and the 96 Nissan Altima, a corrugated cardboard base substrate. In general, today's headliners are based upon three substrate types glass, foam, or cellulose (paper or cotton). Glass headliners are requested less frequently due to the lack of recycleability and the skin irritation caused to assembly plant workers. Of those substrate candidate materials screened, the best performing headliner substrate materials were 1997 Ford Expedition and 1997 GM G Van.

Textron Automotive Company (TAC) has been selected to develop the cockpit instrument panel, front fascia and bumper beam to the Solectria Sunrise, an all composite four-passenger mass-producible electric vehicle funded by Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) and Boston Edison. The Sunrise meets many of the 1997 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for crashworthiness and has been designed from the ground up as an electric vehicle. Solectria Sunrise can be driven 204 miles without recharging1, can achieve a top speed of 75 mph, and can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 17 seconds.2 TAC has developed the following components made from glass reinforced urethanes or lightweight urethane materials: structural cockpit assembly (including cross car beam and ducting), fascia, bumper beams, and other related components. These components require the lowest weight design, through part integration, and lightest materials as this vehicle will only weigh 2000 lbs with an 800 lb battery.