Future of low carbon in engineering plastics automotive industry

The Copenhagen Climate Conference is becoming the starting point for low-carbon start-ups in the automotive industry. The low-carbon economy has become one of the hot topics that people are watching behind the scenes. At the recently concluded Guangzhou Auto Show, almost every exhibitor had different degrees of measures in terms of low-carbon, energy-saving, and emission reduction. More than 60% of car companies involved the development plan for new energy vehicles in their corporate strategy. In addition to plotting new energy sources, the application of engineering plastics to the automotive industry is also a trend of the times and the people's minds.

Long-term application of automotive plastics

The characteristics of plastics are: light weight, no rust, good impact resistance, high transparency, abrasion resistance, good insulation, low thermal conductivity, general formability, good coloring, low processing cost, etc., in automotive design The use of a large number of plastics can comprehensively reflect the requirements for automotive design performance, ie, light weight, safety, corrosion protection, styling and comfort, etc., and it is beneficial to reduce costs and save material resources. However, due to the poor dimensional stability, high thermal expansion rate, easy burning, and aging of ordinary plastics, many properties cannot be compared with metal materials. Therefore, the plastic used in automobiles is not a pure (single) species, but modified, also known as "modified plastics."

In order to meet the needs of the development of the automotive industry, the variety and application of automotive plastics continue to expand. In the 1990s, the average amount of plastics used in developed countries was: 100-130 kg/vehicle, which accounted for 7% to 10% of the total vehicle maintenance quality; by 2002, the average amount of plastic used in developed countries reached 300 kg/vehicle or more, accounting for 20% of the overall vehicle maintenance quality. It is estimated that by 2020, the average amount of plastic used in developed countries will reach 500kg/vehicle.

The amount of plastic for each car in China's economy car is 50-60kg; the amount of plastic for light and medium-sized trucks is only 40-50kg; the heavy-duty truck can reach 80kg or so. China's medium and high-grade cars are basically imported models from developed countries. The application of automotive plastics is basically the same as that of developed countries in the 1990s, which is 100 to 130 kg/vehicle.

The application of plastics in automobiles is very extensive. According to functional applications, it is mainly divided into three categories: interior parts, exterior parts and functional parts.

Outer parts: plastic substitute steel, increase the application of plastic products, reduce the weight of the car, to achieve the purpose of energy saving. Such as bumpers.

Interior parts: Using safety, environmental protection, and comfort as the application features, we use the elastomers and foamed plastics that can absorb impact energy and vibration energy to manufacture dashboards, seats, headrests and other products to reduce the harm to the human body in the event of a collision. Improve the safety factor of the car.

Functional structural parts: Use high-strength engineering plastics to reduce weight, reduce costs, and simplify processes. Such as plastic fuel tanks, parts of the engine and chassis, etc.

The rise of China's engineering plastics contrarian

Recently, China’s auto market has become a hot topic in the global auto market. As the automobile industry of the ten major industry revitalization plans, driven by the favorable factors introduced in the automobile to the countryside and the automobile industry promotion plan, Sales volume has risen steadily, and even far exceeds sales in the same period last year that were not affected by the economic crisis. However, the weakness of the global auto market can not be ignored. The decline in auto demand led Japan's exports to the United States to decline for the 18th consecutive month, a decrease of 58% to 556.5 billion yen, and Japan’s exports to the EU also fell for the seventh consecutive month. The EU's exports fell 55% to 491.3 billion yen. Japan’s exports to China have dropped by 40% to 611.8 billion yen, as the demand for automobiles, plastics, semiconductors and other electronic components in the Chinese market has dropped significantly.

In January 2009, Craytech, the automotive plastic parts supplier, declared bankruptcy and became a victim of the wilting North American auto market. Less than two months later, in March 2009, Plastal, a leading supplier of automotive plastic parts in Europe, announced Bankruptcy, naturally due to the sharp decline in automotive industry demand, Plastal is one of the major suppliers of automotive plastic parts in Europe, with sales of 1.3 billion euros in 2008. When people sigh with regret, they can't help thinking about how to get plastic parts out of the winter.

On the one hand, the application of plastic parts in automobiles can effectively reduce the weight of the vehicle and achieve lighter weight of the vehicle, thus saving fuel, which is one of the important ways for the vehicle to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction. Plastic itself is recyclable, so the recycling of auto parts is a top priority for the sustainable development of the automotive plastics industry. It is of great significance to save energy, promote environmental protection and accelerate harmonious development. Automotive plastic parts, as components that can be recycled, are necessary factors for the sustainable development of the automotive industry. Nowadays, the research and development of the recyclable parts of automotive plastic parts has been highly valued by automobile manufacturers in various countries. Therefore, we want to survive and develop in the weak global automotive market. The research and development of plastic parts in terms of recyclability is necessary. On the other hand, R&D and application of new automotive plastic products, such as Toyota Motor, are looking forward to bioplastics, indicating that by 2015, 20% (mass ratio) of plastic used in automobiles will be replaced with bioplastics. In order to achieve the above-mentioned replacement ratio, it is also necessary to achieve technological breakthroughs in the heat resistance, formability, impact resistance, and long-term reliability of bioplastics. Toyota has started to advance research on the above topics. At present, the proportion of various plastics used in automobiles is: polypropylene (PP) is less than 50%, and the total amount of main materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PU) and ABS resin accounts for about 80%. Toyota plans to gradually replace these plastics with bioplastics by 2015. The first thing that will be replaced with bioplastics is the "built-in parts" inside the car.

In Europe and the United States, 30%-40% of engineering plastics consumption is concentrated in the automotive sector; in the proportion of consumption in the engineering plastics market in China, the amount of automobiles has accounted for 11.82%, followed by electrical and electronic (the proportion of its consumption is 30.4. %). Therefore, industry analysts said that with the rapid demand for plastics in the automotive industry in recent years, China's plastics industry and the automotive industry has formed a trend of "a glory and a loss." As auto bodies, interior trims, bumpers and even engines are all using various types of plastics, the domestic plastics industry will also be accompanied by the stimulating policies of the auto industry.

The Central Economic Work Conference at the beginning of December 2009 released a signal that in 2010 the Chinese government will continue its preferential policies for autos going to the countryside and increase its efforts to promote it nationwide. As of November 2009, China’s auto sales benefited from the strong support of relevant policies, breaking the sales threshold of 12 million vehicles and setting a new record in history. China’s auto plastics have benefited greatly from this. In 2010, Under the conditions of increasing rural policies, can China's auto plastic be able to create brilliant achievements?