Outlook 2017: Future of automotive lightweighting

Lightweighting still is the number-one automotive trend for plastics, according to Wim De Vos, CEO, SPE International (www.4spe.org).   The continued substitution of heavy metallic and glass materials by lightweight plastic and composite structures is ‘fueled' by regulations and the rise of the electric-powered car. “We will start seeing more plastic wheel-rims, plastic engine parts, even more body panels, plastic glazing, etc. The vision of a full plastic car slowly becomes reality. Another trend is the so-called ‘plastronic’ parts where electronic functions are integrated into the plastic part. With the rise of ‘connectivity’ and ‘data intelligence,’ these become increasingly important,” Mr. De Vos explained.  

 

Regulatory changes are only one element in the move toward lightweighting, according to Mr. De Vos, “but the encouragement comes mostly from several megatrends, such as efforts for greater environmental protection and conservation of natural resources, our continuous desire for more and better comfort, and ultimately the evolution of our social behaviour in which we strive for constant connection to our friends, family and to a diverse set of news feeds.” 

 

Mr. De Vos sees several factors affecting the use of plastics in the automotive industry. “First of all there could be some small shifts within the plastics materials used. Plastic is not always replacing metal, sometimes a commodity plastic is replaced by a higher performing engineering polymer or even a polymer composite.” Regarding the overall polymer demand, in the end all trends are impacted by cost, so if oil and gas prices substantially increase again, then the use of plastics might be economically less interesting for OEMs. This is for me the only risk, he added. 

 

 

 

The rise of the electric car will see an increased use of plastics in structural elements and large parts in an effort to reduce mass and increase vehicle range. “Compare it with what we saw in the racing industry some decades ago. Look at cars like the BMW i3 and the Reva (electrical car for Indian OEM Mahindra); these cars are using plastics for components that in most standard vehicles are still normally metallic. On the Reva, for instance, all the body panels are thermoformed ABS-PC-PMMA,” Mr. De Vos said. 

 

One of the more difficult trends to predict is the increasing use of 3D-printed parts for serial vehicles, according to Mr. De Vos. While additive manufacturing has become standard in prototyping, it now makes its slow entry in very-low volume, small, complex serial parts. It is quite clear that for any real breakthrough into higher volume and mid- to larger part segment, the technology will have to make a quantum leap on production speed (faster) and material cost (lower).

 

Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) International

Tel: +1-203 775 0471

E-mail: news@speautomotive.com

Website:  www.4spe.org