Plastics exec calls for standards to drive new material opportunities

The plastics industry is rethinking its next generation of automotive materials to meet new demands in what it calls “the ACCESS framework” - Autonomy, Connectivity, Circularity, Electrification, Shared Mobility and Sustainability, said Lanxess Specialty Chemicals technical director Jose Chirino during his Sept. 9 keynote at the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) 2020 Automotive Composites Conference. The three-day event was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chirino outlined dozens of materials-application opportunities for plastics and composites related to components, systems and structures in electrified and autonomous/automated vehicles (AVs). He also stressed the ongoing need to offset the added weight of features such as heavy batteries and redundant safety-related systems. In the cabin, new plastics are enabling the design and seamless integration of high-value content such as sensors, transparent displays, ambient lighting aesthetics, voice-enabled IoT devices and touch-sensitive switches.