Chemical Engineering August 2021 - 13

Newsfront
Electric Vehicles Drive
Performance Polymers
Higher-volume production of battery-powered vehicles is driving the development of highperformance
polymers with improved properties to meet the needs of electric propulsion
T
he market for battery-powered
electric vehicles (BEVs)
has grown rapidly over the
past five years. According to
a recent analysis by market research
firm IDtechEX (Cambridge, U.K.;
www.idtechex.com), global sales of
BEVs in 2020 were 5.5 times larger
than in 2015, and BEV sales remained
strong in 2020, despite the
pandemic. As sales continue to increase,
BEV technology is advancing
in parallel, with battery capacity
and energy density growing while
vehicles become more connected
and more autonomous.
Expansion of electric vehicles
and vehicle-battery manufacturing
has driven higher demand for highperformance
polymers and polymer
composites that exhibit specific
properties required for safe and effective
operation.
The
American
Chemistry
Council (ACC; Washington,
D.C.; www.americanchemistry.
com) states that hybridization and
electrification will increase demands
for efficiency, battery longevity,
weight and space savings, as well
as safety enhancements. Among
the key properties for plastics used
in BEV applications are high dielectric
strength, high strength-to-weight
ratio, flame retardance, impact resistance
and others. Chemical manufacturers
are continuing to develop
new polymer grades, new additives
and processing methods to meet the
requirements of electric vehicles.
E-mobility requirements
Electromobility (e-mobility; referring
to the use of technologies that
allow electric propulsion of vehicles)
has introduced new demands on
the polymers used to make vehicle
components. " There is a new set of
requirements for materials in e-mobility, "
says Brian Vargo, BASF E&E &
eMobility segment manager at BASF
Performance Materials (Wyandotte,
Mich.; www.basf.com), " including
electrical conductance, electromagnetic
interference
[EMI]
shielding,
flame
retardance, dielectric strength
(ability of insulating materials to withstand
high electric fields without losing
insulating properties) and others,
and this creates opportunities for
plastics to be introduced into EVs
[electric vehicles]. "
Dirk Heinrich, vice president of
automotive and e-mobility at Evonik
High Performance Polymers GmbH
(Darmstadt, Germany; www.evonik.
com) agrees that EVs have been a
big driver for performance plastics
because of their unique needs, including
handling new types of fluids,
improved electric isolation, specific
coloring and more. " There are many
small and sometimes subtle differences
between EVs and conventional
automobiles that lead to more plastics
being required for EVs. One small
example of this is that the fluid cooling
lines for BEVs need to have larger
diameters and wall thicknesses, as
well as be longer, than those in conventional
engines. " The sum of many
similar examples at higher sales volumes
leads to marked increases in
plastics demand.
Darpan Parikh, a global product
management leader in SABIC's (AlJubail,
Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.
com) specialties business, summarizes
by saying " EV batteries bring
additional
safety
internal combustion engine (ICE)
automobiles are adding a range of
driver-assistance technologies, such
as lane-centering, automatic braking
and autonomous driving, that require
specialized sensors, connectors and
camera, adding new potential applications
for performance polymers.
Further, compounds and materials
that address issues of noise, vibration
and harshness (NVH) in the cars'
interior are important.
A significant and ongoing transition
that has been occurring in recent
years is the shift to designing
EVs from scratch, rather than trying
to introduce electric-propulsion
components into vehicles that were
originally designed as ICE vehicles,
explains Chris Korson, chassis and
structural market segment manager
at BASF Performance Materials. " The
initial generations of commercial EVs
were just trying to put batteries into
the existing vehicle bodies. Newer
EVs have changing architectures that
are designed to be battery-powered
from the beginning. "
requirements for
chassis and structural members, and
the need for lightweighting for longrange
drive capability without compromising
on crash performance. "
At the same time, both BEVs and
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This design flexibility has led to
new opportunities for polymer composites,
including glass-reinforced
polyurethanes as lighter weight replacements
for metal parts. " Electric
vehicle designs actually use more
straight parts in their architecture, "
says BASF's Vargo, " which lend
themselves to the use of polymer
composites, such as glass-reinforced
polyurethanes. "
The fundamental shift from propulsion
by fuel combustion to propulsion
by battery has also placed an
emphasis on balancing cost and
performance, and has highlighted
the importance of plastic materials
(Figure 1). Dhanendra Nagwanshi,
global automotive leader, EV Bat13
http://www.basf.com http://www.idtechex.com http://www.evonik http://www.americanchemistry http://www.sabic http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering August 2021

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