COMPOUNDS | ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Automotive electrification to drive compound innovation
EV technologies will present new opportunities for plastics but call for compounds that meet new performance and environmental requirements. Chris Saunders reports
IMAGE: CADILLAC
Despite the challenging global economic environ- ment and continued semiconductor chip shortage, the Electric Vehicle (EV) market is booming and shows little sign of slowing. According to the latest edition of the annual Global Electric Vehicle Outlook, there were around 16.5m EVs on the world’s roads by the end of 2021, three times the number there was in 2018, and growth continued throughout 2022. Polymer compounds are at the very forefront of this EV revolution and consider- able growth is expected. Polymers have many advantages over materials
traditionally used in automobile production. They can be easily processed into complex shapes and provide long-term performance and efficiency gains, while ongoing advances in polymer science have further broadened application scope. “Freedom of design is a big plus point in terms
of simpler production processes and thus lower costs,” says Julian Haspel, Head of the e-Powertrain Team at Lanxess. “Take the housing for the high-voltage battery. In addition to the savings in material costs, if the components are made from plastic, functions like snap-on hooks or screw domes can be integrated directly in the manufac- turing process. With aluminium this would require cost-intensive subsequent processing.” In the powertrain or battery of electric vehicles,
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as well as in charging infrastructure, plastic compo- nents are often exposed to high temperatures, high currents and high voltages. They must be resistant to creepage currents that occur when electrically conductive paths form on the surface of insulating materials —tracking — and can result in short circuits and possible damage. Lanxess has developed a new PBT compound
that is halogen-free flame-retardant and hydrolysis- stabilised. “One strength of the structural material is that its outstanding electrical properties are hardly dependent on temperature and moisture in the typical operating conditions of high-voltage connectors,” says Dr Bernhard Helbich, Technical Marketing Manager Key Accounts in the Lanxess High Performance Materials business unit. The compound is a part of the company’s Pocan
BFN HR range, which is characterised by a high level of volume resistance and dielectric strength. In the CTI test (Comparative Tracking Index, IEC 60112), the material achieves the highest CTI A 600 rating and can be used at voltages higher than 600V. The new grade, which is reinforced with 25% by weight glass fibres, is described as ‘very stable’ to hydrolysis. In tests based on SAE/USCAR-2 Rev. 6 long-term hydrolysis specification it achieved a rating of Class 3. In the UL 94 flammability test it achieved a V-0 rating at 0.75mm.
Main image: The Cadillac Lyric luxury EV claims to set new standards for range. It uses a number of innovative polymer
components and materials
� February 2023 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 25
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