Engineering plastics revolutionized the automotive industry

Since January of this year is in effect the new automotive system that, among other requirements, determines that automakers increase the energy efficiency of its products by at least 12% by 2017, which according to the ANFAVEA, would represent a 13.6% saving in fuel. One of the solutions used by factories to achieve the goal is to reduce the weight of the car. To do so, are investing in the replacement of automotive metal compounds by equivalent parts made of high performance plastic, also called engineering plastics. This trend can be proven in FEIPLASTIC 2013-International Fair of plastics, which happens in the Anhembi Exhibition Pavilion, where industry giants show positive results for the sector.
Air intake collector, for example, were exclusively manufactured of metal in the past, and today the models made with high-performance plastic are present in about 97% of the vehicles in Brazil according to Paulo da Silva Motta, Manager of new business development and marketing of Rhodia. "Today the oil pan made of polyamide (main component of engineering plastic) is used in a percentage close to zero. Our expectation is that in five years this piece, made of plastic, is present in 50% of the new fleet, "he says.
According to Motta, a car 100 kg lighter saves half a litre of fuel per hundred kilometers run and reduces 11, 65 g CO2 emissions per kilometer. The Innovate-Auto also has as a criterion the reduction of carbon emissions by the vehicle. In this way the use of plastic already contributes to two New Automotive system requirements which proposes 30 points discount in the IPI for the automakers. The Japanese UBE arrived at FEIPLASTIC in order to increase their participation in Brazil in 10% in 2013. For this the company has a large portfolio of additives that are used to decrease the weight of engineering plastic which must not, however, lose its properties. "Our company invests 5% of the total turnover in the development of new products. The FEIPLASTIC was the chosen platform to show our complete line of innovations to the Brazilian market in view of the importance of fair and an increasing demand for our products, mainly driven by the automotive industry, "said Carlos Catarozzo, sales and marketing executive of UBE.
DSM brought to the FEIPLASTIC an aesthetic motor cover made of polyamide ecologically correct, because 70% of its composition is obtained from castor oil. In addition to the high-performance plastic is recyclable, the source of his raw material is also renewable, contributing to the reduction of the weight of the car and of emission of polluting gases. The EcoPaXX, as it is called, is already used in the new Mercedes-Benz A-class.