Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Middle East Foam & Polyurethane
  • UTECH Asia/PU China
  • UTECH Europe
  • UTECH Las Americas
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Coronavirus
  • News
    • Asia
    • Americas
    • Europe
    • M & A
    • Financial results
    • Automotive
    • India levies anti-dumping duty on polyols from Saudi Arabia and UAE
      World car registrations rebounded in March
      Wanhua doubled revenue in Q1 2021
      Machinery sector business confidence returned to average in 2020
    • US mattress imports kept on falling in February
      World car registrations rebounded in March
      US footwear imports up in February 2021
      A fishy source of non-iso PUs
    • World car registrations rebounded in March
      Taking the helm at Baumer
      Western Europe's car registrations rebounded in March 2021
      Machinery sector business confidence returned to average in 2020
    • Recticel completes FoamPartner purchase
      iStock, 2019, 800, Web, glue, adhesive, sticky, CASE
      Plixxent moves into the UK
      Kingspan moves into pipe insulation
      Recticel insulation starts move into Central/Eastern Europe
    • Wanhua doubled revenue in Q1 2021
      Grammer felt the coronavirus fever in 2020
      Coronavirus drags down Anli’s 2020 earnings
      Sinomax grew business in 2020
    • World car registrations rebounded in March
      Western Europe's car registrations rebounded in March 2021
      US car sales up dramatically in March 2021
      Foam and chip shortage hit US car production
  • Data
  • Information
    • Country Overview
    • Market Sector overviews
    • Technical articles
    • Company profiles and strategies
    • China’s PU industry on the path to recovery; plans for technology upgrades
      Chinese cold chains grow bigger
      Flexible foam rises to challenges in the Middle East and Africa
      Life at the cross-roads: what does the GCC offer PU?
    • Europe's flexible foam makers face rising prices as outages hit markets
      Western European car registrations rebound slowed in September
      Western European car registrations regained some ground in August
      Western European Car registrations rebound continued in July
    • Take out the VOC with hybrid release agents
      Batteries give pultrusions power
      Seeing a way through VOC and FOG
      Aromatic polyols for simpler rigid PU formulations
    • Taking the helm at Baumer
      Hennecke and Frimo: an automotive partnership
      Pushing ahead: AutoRIM drives KM’s UK growth
      BASF opens it first ‘Creation Center’ in Mumbai with a PU twist
  • Events
    • Exhibitions
    • Conferences
    • Webinars / Livestreams
    • Become a Speaker
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Issues
  • Subscribe
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
December 08, 2011 12:00 AM

BMW designers lean on plastics for zero-emission cars

Utech Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    By Steve Toloken, Plastics News Staff

    Hong Kong, China -- Plastics are playing a larger role in making cars lighter and commercialising electric vehicles, but for one prominent automotive designer, more still needs to be done.

    In an interview at the recent Business of Design Week in Hong Kong, Adrian van Hooydonk, senior vice president of BMW Group Design, said he was excited by the creative possibilities opening up with the new lightweight materials, including traditional plastics, carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CRFP) and aluminium.

    But he also urged materials firms to continue making advancements, as car companies come under more environmental pressure, and had some specific advice for plastics companies.

    "[Reducing vehicle weight] is getting more and more important because we are going into I think an era of quite a lot of change in the automotive field," said van Hooydonk, who is responsible for the design development of the BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands. "We are going to zero emission mobility."

    BMW, for example, plans to roll out what it calls "zero local" emission or low emission models in 2013, its all-electric i3 for urban driving and its hybrid i8 sports car.

    Van Hooydonk, who worked as a designer for GE Plastics Europe in Bergen Op Zoom early in his career, said both of the new i Series cars use all-plastic body panels, a carbon fibre plastic composite structure and aluminium substructures. They're all needed to cut weight to accommodate the heavy batteries these next-generation cars need, he said.

    In its press materials for the i Series, BMW said CFRP is at least as strong as steel but 50 percent lighter.

    BMW is particularly interested in CFRP materials, and is working to fully commercialise what he called "industrial" carbon fiber manufacturing that can be mass-produced quickly.

    He contrasted that with the current carbon fibre manufacturing technology it uses, which is similar to that used to make race cars, a very slow process.

    BMW opened a joint venture carbon fibre manufacturing plant in Washington State in mid-2011.

    (Read more here at Plastics News, a Crain publication)
    "

    Recommended for You
    The raw materials roller coaster
    The raw materials roller coaster
    US mattress imports kept on falling in February
    US mattress imports kept on falling in February
    India levies anti-dumping duty on polyols from Saudi Arabia and UAE
    India levies anti-dumping duty on polyols from Saudi Arabia and UAE
    Latest Issue
    Click HERE for Free Download
    View All Archives
    Get our newsletters

    Breaking news and in-depth coverage of essential topics delivered straight to your inbox.

    Subscribe today

    Register to access our archive of leading information on the polyurethanes industry.

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Youtube

    Follow us on social media for the latest polyurethanes industry news and event updates.

    Logo
    Contact Us

    Office 127,
    61, Willow Walk,
    London
    SE1 5SF
    E-mail us
    +44 (0) 203 287 5979

    Customer Service:
    +1 313 446 0450

    Resources
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Staff
    • Careers
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Coronavirus
    • News
      • Asia
      • Americas
      • Europe
      • M & A
      • Financial results
      • Automotive
    • Data
    • Information
      • Country Overview
      • Market Sector overviews
      • Technical articles
      • Company profiles and strategies
    • Events
      • Exhibitions
      • Conferences
      • Webinars / Livestreams
      • Become a Speaker
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Issues
    • Subscribe