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Variety, affordability key for future consumer EV adoption

Variety, affordability key for future consumer EV adoptionThe potential future of profitable investments in electric vehicle components and infrastructure hinge on cost-cutting processes and the final price tag, analysts say, but the industry is "losing time" in a race to cut carbon emissions before climate change does irreparable damage.During a virtual panel discussion about buyers of battery electric vehicles, hosted Sept. 16 by the Center for Automotive Research, Mike Dovorany, vice president of the automotive and mobility market research team at Escalent, said developers should change the way they think about the persona of the future electric vehicle buyer."EV is an interesting space given the fact that there's so much energy and resources being put into them, and yet in a lot of ways there's a continued frustration of 'why aren't we seeing the results we would like,'" Dovorany said.The growth of EVs is important for plastics suppliers making lighter weight parts, electronics and reconfigured interiors.Escalent recently surveyed 10,000 new vehicle buyers to understand consumers' interest level in an electrified future in transportation."There's some pretty good human behavior lessons to bring to the table," Dovorany said.With about 80 percent of respondents saying they believe EVs are either "the future" or "an interesting idea," he said, "there's basically been a coalescent in the consumers' minds around the fact that electrification is the future. … That shows a lot of the work getting done is actually resonating with people."Segment variety"There's a number of people that don't need necessarily to be convinced," he said.About 15 percent of respondents said they want an EV but are "just waiting for the right product," Dovorany said.And those vehicle varieties are coming, Dovorany said, with the auto industry "on the cusp" of having dozens of new kinds of EVs in production over the next few years. "It's exciting," he said.But there's "not really time to wait for everyone to get comfortable with technologies," Britta Gross, managing director of Rocky Mountain Institute's mobility practice, said at the event. "We've got to start this acceleration of adoption today.""If we're going to have a meaningful impact on climate and temperature, we've got to get on pace today," Gross said, with more than 50 million EVs on U.S. roads, about one in five vehicles, and about 300,000 fast-charging systems in U.S. infrastructure by 2030."Consumers aren't rushing to get into a vehicle segment that they don't prefer," she said. "They're waiting to see the products they want in the form and function they want. … It's really important that there are more vehicles on the market."In 2019, Gross said, about 50 percent of available-for-purchase EVs were cars, about 20 percent were SUVs and crossovers, and none were pickups.Affordability is important, but not to all EV buyers"Obviously," she said, battery cost and vehicle affordability in mainstream segments are going to be key to seeing that level of EV adoption."It depends on who your buyer is— sometimes cost is important and sometimes it's not," Dovorany added.For about 10 percent of respondents to Escalent's survey, a plug-in hybrid was considered a "logical step" for those interested in electrification but not ready for a full-electric vehicle, Dovorany said. "And there's a really substantial amount that really just don't know enough to make a decision."Cost and profitability of charging infrastructure are also key to reaching the scale of EV adoption necessary to reduce carbon emissions, Gross said."Every utility [company] should be engaged and investing in what's needed for this transformation of transportation," she said. "But alone, utilities can't do it. We've got to find a way to get rid of some of the cost barriers that make it not profitable for private investment to get into these markets."Gross said debates over short-term issues are wasting time for utility developers looking to invest. Policies and awareness campaigns could help speed up the public education and eventual adoption of new technologies, she added.Demographically, higher-income and younger EV enthusiasts tend to be influential, Dovorany said, and they play a role in heightening emotion or excitement over the future of electric mobility."There's messaging that can happen that isn't just talking about how an EV is less bad than a gasoline vehicle, but how it's exciting in ways that people might not even think about," Dovorany said. "Be more creative with your thinking. Understand that this is, at its core, an emotional purchase on some level for almost every consumer. If you can understand that, it will bring things up and allow things to be accomplished more successfully."source : https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/variety-affordability-key-future-consumer-ev-adoption

Editor 2020-10-23

Not there yet: Auto industry grapples with electric vehicle hurdles

Not there yet: Auto industry grapples with electric vehicle hurdlesThe road map is a bit ambiguous. But then again, so is the road ahead.Automakers and suppliers are doing their best to drive the industry toward electrification, but that's not always easy to do, especially as goals change and consumers hesitate to embrace technology.So the auto industry pushes forward with technological innovations, accelerating toward a future where electric vehicles are as much a part of the landscape as their internal combustion engine counterparts.And, as with any journey, some are getting restless to reach the destination."Are we there yet? The answer is no," said Joerg Trampler, who is responsible for all of ZF Friedrichshafen A.G.'s powertrain engineering operations in North America. "The road to electrification is an endurance race."Trampler joined Dustin Krause, Volkswagen Group of America Inc.'s North American director of e-mobility, for a discussion about the future of electric vehicle technology and what it will take to go from niche product to mass market. The discussion was part of a webinar series hosted Aug. 4-5 by the Center for Automotive Research as part of the annual Management Briefing Seminars. The event, typically hosted in Traverse City, Mich., transitioned to an online format because of the COVID-19 pandemic.Every major automaker is focused on and investing in EV technology, and Volkswagen is no exception. Following its Audi and Porsche brands, which already introduced EV models of their own, VW is gearing up to roll out its ID.4, a compact crossover that is due to hit dealer showrooms later this year.Volkswagen, Krause said, had covered the "luxury market and the sports car market. Now, we are going to hit the mass market, taking inspiration from what our customers wanted and what others are doing."While the ID.4 may be among the first EVs that auto makers hope will break through to the mass market, it won't be the last."The world will go toward electrification," Trampler said. "We just don't know how fast."To that end, ZF has some predictions of its own.By 2030, ZF expects that 40 percent of new vehicles will be high-voltage EVs, either fully BEV or a high-voltage hybrid. Of the remaining 60 percent of new vehicles, a majority of those will be some sort of mild hybrid that later could transition to fully electric models.While it feels like the industry has a long way to go before consumers fully embrace EV technology as a viable option, progress has been made. Because it's not the technology itself that is keeping the industry from moving forward, especially in North America. It's a mindset.Krause said he is certain that most consumers haven't had the opportunity to experience exactly what EVs have to offer, and that will be key as auto makers look to help them make the switch.The good news, he said, is that changing that perception is as simple as a test drive."Getting behind the wheel of (an electric) car," Krause said, "it changes something."Trampler agreed."A lot of people who say 'I am not ready' or 'electric vehicles are bad' probably have never driven one," Trampler said. "I got hooked the first time I sat in an electric vehicle. The drivetrain was different, and it handled well. I would encourage everyone to try an electric vehicle and see what you think."Securing a seat behind the wheel of a test-driven vehicle may be harder than it sounds because the automotive buying experience is changing. The days of visiting a dealer, scoping out the inventory and taking a couple of cars for a spin before making a purchase are gone. Most consumers begin the buying process online and may only test one or two cars.With the rise of online vehicle sales platforms, some may never test drive the car they buy.This certainly presents a challenge, Krause said. Which is why it's up to the automotive industry not only to prove what EVs can do, but push for the infrastructure to support them."The first thing is getting someone behind the wheel," Krause said. "The second thing is showing them that solutions exist for them to own this thing."Range anxiety remains one of the most common concerns consumers have regarding EVs. For generations, the vehicle has been synonymous with freedom — the ability to go anywhere you want, whenever you want.Krause said he remembers someone saying they were concerned the range of the electric vehicle would not suit their lifestyle: "What if I want to go Florida at a moment's notice?" They asked him."I was like, when have you ever done that before?"Still, he said, it's exactly that kind of question that holds consumers back, realistic or not.Krause made the leap to EVs a little more than a decade ago. At that time, there were few options for charging, and he remembered making calculated pit stops at camp grounds to ensure that he had a place to recharge the car.Today, he said, that has changed. Municipalities, states and companies — including Volkswagen — have invested in a charging infrastructure that stretches across the continental U.S., giving EV owners the opportunity to embrace the freedom they expect from their vehicles.If changes that big can be made in just one decade, the next could be even better for the industry as it pushes toward its goals."Just think where we are going to be in another 10 years," Krause said.source : https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/not-there-yet-auto-industry-grapples-electric-vehicle-hurdles

editor 2020-08-21

Some auto suppliers ‘won't make it' through reopening challenges, analyst says

Some auto suppliers ‘won't make it' through reopening challenges, analyst saysFord started resuming production and operations in the United States today. The company has implemented robust safety and care measures globally to help support a safe and healthy environment for the company’s workforce, including health assessment measures, personal protective equipment and facility modifications to increase social distancing.Detroit — As the automotive industry reopens production in North America, some members of its supply chain are facing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and an income gap from widespread shutdowns of nonessential production.Ben Holder, president and CEO of Lindstrom, Minn.-based Plastic Products Co., told Plastics News the injection molder has faced "a huge challenge" amid reduced demand in the industry.The company was able to stay open for some essential production throughout shutdowns, Holder said, but it has done "a lot of reducing operations then increasing operations again," due to its two largest customers shutting down plants because of COVID-19 cases in their facilities and decreased output as they implement production line changes for social distancing."We are managing as well as we can," he said."Sales for May were only 70 percent of budgeted levels," Holder added. "A few employees have expressed concerns [over COVID-19] in certain locations but concern is not widespread."Injection molder MVA Stratford lost about 10 percent of its workforce during shutdowns for "various reasons," including those employees moving, finding other opportunities or a lack of childcare, General Manager Jason Cousins said in an email."We have hired to react to this and are still in process of getting back to full staff," Cousins said. "We expect to be back to normal head count with new hiring within a few weeks. We also see large increases from our customers that will challenge capacity in the coming months for both machine and labor."Planning ahead with customers "helped a lot" with restarting efforts, he said, "but we were not given a lot of notice on how quickly the numbers would recover and surpass old volumes again. Our customers did openly communicate though and were giving all the information they had to give us.""We are hoping that [case] levels stay at pre-COVID shutdown or a slight increase that is manageable," Cousins added. "It is uncertain though what the future will bring with auto sales. Forecasts do look very strong though."Charlotte Smith/Ford Motor Co. Ford has started resuming production and operations in the United States. As the automotive industry reopens throughout the country, some members of its supply chain are facing challenges from the coronavirus pandemic and an income gap from widespread shutdowns of nonessential production.‘Kinks in the supply chain'Some suppliers might be more financially poised to revamp production more quickly than others, Laurie Harbour, CEO and president of consulting firm Harbour Results Inc., told Plastics News, but she said to expect "kinks in the supply chain … because there's going to be a lot of molders that won't make it."Going into 2020, many Tier 2 suppliers were already "not financially healthy," Harbour said, and loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program are now "masking the problems.""They had bad balance sheets, bad profit or no profit," she said. "Then they got hit by COVID, and great, they got a bunch of money to make payroll. … It's like a Band-Aid."As suppliers revamp their production levels, cash on hand will be a deciding factor for them to purchase raw materials, tooling, "and all the things that go into the supply chain," Harbour said."There's some very strong shops who are making it through, no problem, and they're going to take over work from others," she said. "Those guys will be the ones who survive. … The most important thing is managing how you manage the labor and the PPP loans."Harbour said her firm is advising suppliers to take PPP money "as a loan" and focus on improving efficiency, which "the molding industry has lost sight of," rather than on attempting to qualify for loan forgiveness by bringing back employees early."This is a low-interest loan, only 1 percent," she said. "It's not collateralized. You don't have to sign your house away. Don't bring back all the people just so you can get forgiveness on the loan. That's the wrong behavior."You need to look at your volumes and if you're only going to be at 70 percent of pre-COVID levels, you need to get rid of some of your workforce or at least keep them on longer-term layoffs," Harbour added.Workers should come back only when needed to build parts."This isn't going to go away in the blink of an eye, and there's going to be something else behind it," she said. "Whether it's a second breakout or this huge recession we might have, you name it. We have to use this opportunity from COVID to finally get better and stop being complacent."The second challenge is in forecast," Harbour said. "People have been told to come back and be ready to make parts but might not be getting forecasts from their customers."Tier 1 suppliers may not know what their OEM customers need, she said, "so how do they then tell their suppliers what they need?"Some suppliers may also need to take time to deplete their inventories as OEMs take stock of their own.Harbour said she expects these communication, demand and workforce challenges will likely be faced through the end of June and that orders to suppliers will be "sporadic.""In July, I'm seeing numbers that are double what they are in June," she said. "We get to the end of June and plants stay open and Tier 1s stay open and we don't have a lot of [COVID-19] cases and it stays flat, I think we're going to see things ramp up pretty quickly in July and August."The kinds of vehicles suppliers' products go into will also affect their ability to bounce back, Harbour said."Suppliers doing trucks, pickups, SUVs that are selling really well, that stuff is going to go heavy," she said. "We're down to like 10 days of inventory on pickup trucks — the lowest I think we've ever been. Those suppliers that are on cars and vehicles that still have volumes, even some of the luxury models, are not going to ramp up as quickly."Liquidity front and center"It's really dependent on what's going on with your customers and the supply chain," Steve Hilfinger, a partner with Detroit-based Foley & Lardner's automotive industry advising team, said. "It's the same things that were relevant before. That would have been the case six months ago. … That's not COVID-specific."When all this hit in March, the front and center issue was examining liquidity," Hilfinger said. "If companies thought they'd hit a bump in the road or potentially default on their credit agreements, they drew down their lines of credit if they were able to. … A lot of companies did that to generate dry powder; you saw that with GM and companies of all size."During the shutdown, he said, suppliers still received payments "from work or parts that they shipped 45 days before that.""We haven't hit the liquidity pinch that we're going to start to see as suppliers ramp up," he said. "As they have to order more raw materials, this will be the period that those receivables are not coming in related to the period they were shut down."Hilfinger said that early payment plans by OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers through lenders can help, "especially if the discount rate isn't too severe.""Another way would be just to go directly to your customer and ask for traditional accommodations — say faster pay vs. going to the bank and factoring receivables," he said. "It's a good way to short-circuit some of that and simply negotiate quicker payment terms."Eventually as we start to ramp up production, there might not be as much as the need for factoring because there won't be that hole that's starting to open now," he added. "I think that the third quarter will be when the pinches really start to hit for some companies."Longtime trending programs like autonomous vehicles and mobility that had been driving a lot of automotive investment activity might be pushed back in 2020 due to a lack of surplus capital, Hilfinger said."I think right now people are just trying to figure out how to get to the other side of this crisis, and they're conserving cash and capital to a great extent. There's so much more uncertainty than when we just had simple problems like tariffs to worry about."source : https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/some-auto-suppliers-wont-make-it-through-reopening-challenges-analyst-says

Editor 2020-07-05

Auto suppliers reopen to meet demand amid unknown challenges

Auto suppliers reopen to meet demand amid unknown challenges Charlotte Smith/Ford Motor Co.Ford resumed auto production in the U.S. on May 18. Workers must undergo health assessments and wear personal protective equipment.As automakers return to production after global shutdowns, concerns remain over the health of the supply chain.Three out of four auto suppliers surveyed in Europe by CLEPA, the European Association of Automotive Suppliers, think it will take more than a year to recuperate.More than 90 percent of suppliers surveyed said they expect a sales drop of at least 20 percent in 2020. Some 35 percent expect a drop of more than 30 percent.How reopening in the U.S. will play out is still unknown, Edgar Faler, senior industry analyst at the Center for Automotive Research, told Plastics News."There's a lot we don't know yet about how this industry will recover," he said. "So far, some early indications around retail sales have been encouraging. Although in the last week there's some indication of perhaps a plateau."The numbers he's seeing, Faler said, are "just wonky.""You have this gradual restart of the economy on a state-by-state basis," he said. "There's still a lot of staying at home and it's going to recover unevenly."Suppliers have noted varying degrees of ramp-up progress in North America, Plastics News' sister publication Automotive News reported.Carol Stewart, executive vice president at ADAC Automotive Inc., the Cascade Township, Mich. maker of vehicle door handles and exterior mirrors, said that while some ADAC plants have been running during the past two months to produce aftermarket parts, most are just beginning to ramp back up.ADAC was operating at about 10 percent of capacity as of the week of May 11 and expected to be at only about 20 percent as of the week of May 18.The supplier's primary roadblock has been state-level restrictions on manufacturing."Our biggest issue really was getting the OK for the OEMs to start manufacturing in Michigan," Stewart said.A spokesman for ZF North America Inc. said only about half of its U.S. plants were in operation at the end of last week. ZF's North American plants would not return to operations until the end of May, the spokesman said."Financial assistance very well could be needed for the supply chain, and we're watching this closely," the spokesman said.Base healthy but faces challenges"By and large," Faler said, the automotive supply base ahead of the pandemic was "very healthy." But new challenges from the pandemic have the potential to hit every level of the system."You're relying on healthy employees, so that's an entire set of challenges," he said. "You're also hoping for healthy demand in the marketplace as well as a healthy consumer."Faler said instances such as Ford Motor Co. halting production at two assembly plants in Dearborn, Mich., and Chicago after workers tested positive for COVID-19 "are probably to be expected."Ford Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley told analysts May 14 that, while new factory protocols are critical to the ramp-up, much still depends on the supply base."All of our production manufacturing operations rely on healthy suppliers, and their ability to start up is really critical," Farley said.Ford halted production again at the same Chicago plant following a supplier parts shortage, a spokeswoman told Automotive News. A Lear spokesman confirmed one of its parts plants, which supplies Ford, closed May 20 for cleaning after a worker there tested positive for the virus."We just don't know exactly what form those [challenges] will come in and who it will affect yet," Faler said. "Some of those things haven't played through.""The financial liquidity of the industry is severely hampered right now," Julie Fream, CEO of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association trade group, said during an Automotive News Congress Conversations webcast."Some suppliers, particularly the Tier 2s and Tier 3s we're hearing from, are really starting to have some difficulty," she said.Ford executives told Reuters it is arranging early payments to suppliers to help them stabilize cash flow."We see just over 20 percent [of suppliers] having less than eight weeks of liquidity — meaning if the industry were not to run at all for eight weeks, they would be in dire straits," Fream added. "It is a difficult time, and it's all the more reason why we as an industry have to get started again.""There's a lot of complexity and not a lot of visibility here," Faler said. "We've got to keep a close eye. ... There's a lot that rides on the assumption that demand will come back in a relatively healthy way, and if there's some hiccup there, that will ripple through the supply chain."source: https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/auto-suppliers-reopen-meet-demand-amid-unknown-challenges

editor 2020-06-06

Increased focus on lighting key in auto safety awards

-Increased focus on lighting key in auto safety awardsJessica Lynn Walker Only one Detroit 3 vehicle made the list: the Cadillac XT6, for models built after October 2019.Changing criteria for headlights is holding back many cars from getting top marks from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.IIHS, which evaluates passenger vehicles for its Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards, gave 23 vehicles its Top Safety Pick+ award, down seven from the 2019 model year. IIHS President David Harkey told Automotive News that the decrease came from more stringent criteria for headlights.Headlights, produced with polycarbonate and other engineering plastics, must have "good" or "acceptable" ratings from IIHS to be considered for safety designations. They must also offer "advanced" or "superior" front-crash prevention systems.Only one Detroit 3 vehicle made the list: the Cadillac XT6, for models built after October 2019. The California-built Tesla Model 3 also qualified. The designation plays a part when consumers shop for vehicles, according to dealers.2020 Cadillac XT6 Premium LuxuryIIHS first began rating headlights in 2016, testing for how well they lit the road ahead, whether they were properly focused to show the road both on curves and on a straight road, and if they caused glare for other drivers. Only one lighting system received a good rating out of 80 headlight systems tested.In 2019, 14 percent of headlights were rated as "good."To earn a 2020 Top Safety Pick+ award, vehicles must have "good" ratings in IIHS' passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front crash, side crash, roof strength and head restraint tests.Five Mazda vehicles are 2020 Top Safety Pick+ winners: the Mazda3 sedan, Mazda3 hatchback, Mazda6, CX-3 and CX-5. It also won a Top Safety Pick for the CX-9.Harkey said Mazda stood out in awards this year because it applied "good" or "acceptable" headlights across its entire fleet."Pedestrian fatalities have significantly risen over the past decade," Harkey said. "We've seen a 53 percent jump in pedestrian fatalities since 2009. … Having this technology available on vehicles we think is going to be an important part of the solution."No minivans or pickups qualified for either award so far this year."That could change if automakers make midyear production changes and nominate the vehicle for testing," IIHS said. Minivans and pickups "barely missed out" due to criteria relating to pedestrian-detection technology, Harkey said.Steve Fecht for CadillacMedia get a closer look at the 2020 Cadillac XT6 Sunday, January 13, 2019 at a special event in Detroit, Michigan. The XT6 is a three-row crossover available in Premium Luxury and Sport models. The XT6 offers driver assistance and safety technologies that include sophisticated radar, camera and other sensor-based technologies. The XT6 is powered by a 3.6L V-6 engine and nine-speed automatic transmission. (Photo by Steve Fecht for Cadillac)Hyundai Motor Group, including the Genesis and Kia brands, won 14 Top Safety Pick awards and three Top Safety Pick+ awards.In addition to the Top Safety Pick+ winners, another 41 vehicles earned IIHS' Top Safety Pick awards.Fiat Chrysler and Mitsubishi failed to have any vehicle model earn either award this year. Ford, Volvo and BMW won Top Safety Pick awards, but no Top Safety Pick+ awards, IIHS said. General Motors, besides the XT6 winning a Top Safety Pick+, won a Top Safety Pick for the Chevrolet Equinox.Nissan won a Top Safety Pick+ for the Maxima and a Top Safety Pick award for the Altima."We were pleased that the number was up slightly," Harkey said. "Automakers continue to make improvements. ... A lot of the systems that we have tested have met that criteria. My guess is that by the time we get to the 2022 model year, [improved braking] systems that will be available will not only cover the vehicle interactions, but it will take care of the pedestrian piece as well."source : https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/increased-focus-lighting-key-auto-safety-awards

editor 2020-03-01

Auto suppliers eye future business at CES

Auto suppliers eye future business at CESAlexa St. JohnAutomotive NewsContinental AGContinental AG's "Transparent Hood" is actually a series of four cameras which allow drivers to see what is under their car.Though automakers are getting more realistic about just how quickly they will reach a fully-autonomous automotive future — the "Level 5" status — and are scaling back on some of their ambitious plans, advanced driver-assistance systems and AV technology will still be big topics for suppliers who aim to be at the forefront of the future during CES in Las Vegas, starting Jan. 7.Also atop the agenda: technologies designed to take advantage of new 5G high-speed wireless networks and next-generation connectivity. They are expected to enhance autonomous driving and vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-vehicle and cellular-vehicle-to-everything — or C-V2X — applications.Redesigning the vehicle's interior based on changes in cockpit architecture will also be a focus for many of the suppliers that will attend CES.Here are a few of the top technologies from auto suppliers to watch for this year. Other technologies will be made public throughout the week, most of them relying on connectors and interactive screens made from a variety of resins.Going "transparent"German auto supplier Continental AG has already won a 2020 CES Innovation Award for its "Transparent Hood," which relies on cameras and a screen to show drivers exactly what is underneath the front of their cars, rather than a clear material.The hood uses four cameras and a control unit within Continental's "surround view" system to display images on a screen from beneath the car."The driver can easily see the ground view immediately in front of them, allowing for additional safety and convenience while driving," Continental said in a news release. "This first of its kind technology has the potential to make a major impact on drivers everywhere, especially with reducing vehicle damages while parking."Continental also will showcase its "holistic" human machine interface, which combines auditory and visual cues for human-machine communication inside and outside an autonomous vehicle. The HMI will provide a number of cues, such as when pedestrians are detected in the path of the CUbE, the supplier's development shuttle for autonomous technologies.Waiting passengers can track a shuttle's location, and the vehicle will display a welcome message when it arrives.Inside, there is a display with trip and local-services information and notifications. The system also provides sounds that let pedestrians know they are in the vehicle's path and caution them to move.Once it stops, the shuttle will notify pedestrians when they can safely cross.Advanced displaysVan Buren Township,Mich.-based electronics supplier Visteon Corp. is unveiling its microZone advanced display technology. According to Upton Bowden, Visteon director of technology, microZone can drive various types of displays, including those in the instrument cluster and center stack.MicroZone is a high-contrast and low-power display technology. "Most displays — almost all displays within the automotive environment — have extremely complex environment conditions to deal with," Bowden told Automotive News. "[MicroZone] is a much simpler system to package."Visteon says this technology also allows for easier over-the-air updates and improved security.BoschAuto supplier Bosch has developed a 3D system for auto cockpits which will provide more information to drivers about hazards ahead.Cockpit changesAs traditional suppliers seek a stake in the future of mobility, many are using their expertise in interior technologies to bring changes to the cockpit. German supplier Bosch won a 2020 CES Innovation Award for its new 3D display, which uses passive 3D technology to generate a three-dimensional effect for images and warning signals inside the cockpit. The goal of this technology is to allow drivers to consume visual information faster and easier than when it's displayed on conventional screens.The display taps into a range of new technology available through parts such as organic LED, or OLED, screens made using a flexible film substrate.Autonomous vehicle techAisin Seiki will unveil its I-mobility TYPE-C20 concept vehicle, an automated, bus-like ride-sharing vehicle intended for short destinations.The Japanese supplier's concept vehicle has an electric ramp for accessible boarding and an in-cabin monitoring system to detect a passenger's facial direction and eye movement. The vehicle also incorporates Aisin electric vehicle components such as its eAxel electric four-wheel-drive unit, rail-free power sliding doors and thermal management products.Source : https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/auto-suppliers-eye-future-business-ces Edit : handler

Editor 2020-01-26

Market trends drive LSR innovations

Market trends drive LSR innovationsChris SweeneyGifford Shearer, silicone elastomers market manager with Dow Inc., discussed how market trends are driving liquid silicone rubber innovations at the LSR 2019 conference, held Sept. 10-12.Schaumburg, Ill. — Pressure has usually driven some of history's best innovations, and the world of liquid silicone rubber is no exception.Market demands are major drivers of innovation within the LSR market, and Gifford Shearer, silicone elastomers market manager with Dow Inc., shared how the current market is pushing the industry to new limits at the LSR 2019 conference, held Sept. 10-12 in Schaumburg."LSR innovation shouldn't just be done by the chemists in the labs," Shearer said. "Innovation should be driven by changes in the marketplace."The LSR market is projected to grow by 8 percent annually through 2023, which Shearer said is faster than any other silicone elastomer primarily because of the advantages LSR has in the forms of automation and short cycle times.These advantages allow LSR to penetrate many industries, and in turn those industries push compounders to come up with stronger formulations to meet ever-demanding applications. Shearer outlined four in his presentation, including:• The need for higher quality, such as improved processing and lower cycle times.• Improved sustainability, longevity or safety in sensitive applications.• New applications, or combining LSR with new materials.• Changes to specifications, either on the customer or regulatory side."All of these factors or changes are going to drive LSR innovation," Shearer said. "And as we bring new innovations, it's going to enable new applications and bring additional problems to solve." Higher temperaturesElectrification within automotive is driving growth."If you open up the hood of a car these days, all you see is wires going everywhere," Shearer said. "The electrical content is significantly higher in the automobile and will continue to increase as we go toward hybrids and fully electric vehicles."But despite the migration to electric platforms, traditional internal combustion engines are still going to play a major part of the automotive market for at least the next 10 years. Shearer said there is still demand for materials that can handle increasing temperatures for the standard internal combustion engine.As internal combustion engines shrink in size, they will require materials that can withstand higher temperatures. Shearer said to do this, LSR compounders must suppress hydrosilylation reactions and stabilize the silicone compound's backbone to limit thermal oxidative degradation."If we can do this effectively, we see a significant reduction in compression sets," Shearer said. Low volatilesSensitive applications like medical, food, water, consumer/baby products will continue to demand LSR because Shearer said the material has been proven to be safe in these applications and is ideally suited to meet regulatory requirements.These highly regulated industries require low-volatile LSRs to reduce risk. Shearer said there is typically 1 percent of volatile content in LSR after it's been molded and cured, but certain end applications require that those be removed with a post-curing application — heating the part in the oven."It really becomes the job of the fabricator to ensure that they're able to post-cure the part sufficiently, to remove these volatiles for the end application," Shearer said. "This can be a source of variability. There could be variability in the amount of volatiles coming into the LSR, and there could be variability in the effectiveness of the post-curing operation."Post-curing can depend on the type of the oven, the effectiveness of the oven and the part thickness. Shearer said a thicker part is going to be more challenging to post-cure than a thinner part. The fabricator can't just use one set of post-curing operations for every part, which Shearer said injects some risk into the process because they now need to figure out the requirements to meet the end application.Shearer said a solution is to remove the volatiles from the LSR before it's molded by using a no-volatile LSR. These compounds have been stripped out of the A and B parts before being delivered to the molder. Shearer said this guarantees that fabricators will be left with no more than 0.25 percent volatiles, and typically less, after molding and curing, which is well below the threshold limit for sensitive applications."We've eliminated the risk and eliminated the additional processing step of post-curing," Shearer said. "That's really the value that a no post-cure LSR brings."Other driversThe rise of wearable bands and unseen protection on electronic devices is presenting more opportunities for LSR, as is the rise of 3D printing applications.But Shearer said one key hurdle to overmolding LSR with some of these sensitive electronic parts is the temperature. LSR typically has to cure at about 150° C, which is too hot for microchips and other low-temperature plastic compounds. This has pushed the industry to innovate with low-temperature-cure LSR compounds.Shearer said these silicones are ideal for users who want to put thermally sensitive additives into the LSR but couldn't at the high temperature because they'd lose their function if cured at that heat. The low-temperature LSR grades also reduce cycle time and open up new possibilities to be overmolded to other plastics."Low-temperature-cure LSR uses the same chemical reaction, but we've reduced the activation temperature while maintaining the same pot life," Shearer said."It significantly reduces the curing time."Finally, low-volume prototyping LSRs are becoming more prevalent as 3D printing applications begin to enter the silicone market. Shearer said these developments are driven by the need for manufacturers to prototype parts and customize manufacturing in low volumes."The ideal solution is 3D printing," Shearer said. "3D printing is not going to replace injection molding, but it can complement our molding of LSR through the ability to create rapid prototypes of functional materials and give us the ability to do custom manufacturing at low volumes."source : https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/market-trends-drive-lsr-innovations

Editor 2019-11-25

KHS making a greener juice bottle

KHS making a greener juice bottle▲Plastics News photo by Caroline SeidelPhilipp Langhammer, Product Manager at KHS with the new juice bottle at Oct. 16 at K 2019 in Duesseldorf, Germany. Photo: Plastics News/ Caroline SeidelDüsseldorf, Germany — KHS Corpoplast GmbH developed the first juice bottle made from recycled PET thanks to a glass lining that protects sensitive beverages and then washes away at material recovery facilities.The Dortmund, Germany-based manufacturer of filling and packaging systems is showed its concept bottle called Beyond Juice for the first time at K 2019 in Düsseldorf, Oct. 16-23.The container uses KHS' FreshSafePET barrier technology. Launched last year, the barrier puts an ultrathin, water-soluble glass coating on the inside of the bottle that washes off during the recycling process.KHS took its FreshSafePET and added other eco-friendly features for its Beyond Juice concept, Philipp Langhammer, a product manager of barrier technology at KHS, told Plastics News. He pointed to a small recyclable polypropylene label that wraps around the neck of the bottle and adhesive glue dots that can hold six packs of beverages together.The glue eliminates secondary packaging, such as plastic rings and film wraps. Like the glass coating, which KHS branded as Plasmax, the glue is soluble at 60-80° C and washes away during recycling."This package combines all the sustainable technologies that KHS offers," Langhammer said. "The design has a small label so the bottle can be recognized as PET during the sorting and recycling process. If you have a sleeve, it could be recognized as a PP or PE [polyethylene] bottle."▲Plastics News photo by Caroline SeidelThe new juice bottle from KHS at Oct. 16 at K 2019in Duesseldorf, Germany.The bottle has earned a made-for-recycling seal from Cologne, Germany-based Interseroh Dienstleistungs GmbH, becoming the environmental services provider's first PET bottle to score 20 out of 20 points."Thanks to the seal on the label, for the first time consumers can now allow the bottle's truly excellent recycling properties to influence their decision to buy when standing in front of the supermarket shelf," Interseroh packaging engineer Julian Thielen said in a news release.When the label and adhesives are removed, the bottle left behind can be recycled more easily than composite juice bottles made of multilayer, blended or scavenger materials, which are used to protect juice products from external pressures like oxygen, Langhammer said."The problem is you can't separate the composite materials," he added. "There are layers and additives and they often turn the PET a yellow color," which yields an inferior quality of recyclate.The FreshSafePET innovation was developed partly in response to a new German law that went into effect in January and aims to boost the country's recycling rate for plastics from 36 percent to 63 percent in 2022. The law increases recycling quotas for all types of packaging and sets higher license fees for producers of containers that are difficult to process."In Germany, if you bring a package to the market, you have to register it with a central registration office and a pay a license fee based on what it consists of," Langhammer said. "If you have a fully recyclable package, you pay less."Another benefit of the Beyond Juice concept is an extended product shelf life. KHS says sensitive juices and spritzers last up to 10 times longer than beverages in uncoated bottles because the thin glass layer prevents oxygen from penetrating the bottle and carbon dioxide from escaping it.Founded in 1868, KHS started out as a company that built filling systems for the innovation of that era: bottled beer. The business expanded over the decades into other beverages, food and other markets. The company now has 5,081 employees and sales of 1.16 billion euros ($1.3 billion).'This package combines all the sustainable technologies that KHS offers. The design has a small label so the bottle can be recognized as PET during the sorting and recycling process. If you have a sleeve it could be recognized as a PP or PE [polyethylene] bottle.'source: https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/khs-making-greener-juice-bottleedit : handler http://www.ihandler.co.kr

editor 2019-10-26