Plastics lighten the load to save fuel

A Sabic Innovative Plastics product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 5, 2005

GE Plastics is helping automakers improve fuel efficiency with innovative, high-performance materials that can reduce vehicle weight by replacing traditional metal, glass and wiring systems.

Sharp and painful increases in the cost of petrol are prompting consumers and legislators to demand improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency, as evidenced by proposed new federal fuel economy standards for SUVs, pickups and minivans.

GE Plastics is already helping automakers improve fuel efficiency with innovative, high-performance materials that can reduce vehicle weight by replacing traditional metal, glass and wiring systems.

By extension, the consumer may benefit.

The American Plastics Council reports that for each 10% reduction in the weight of a car or truck, petrol consumption is reduced by 7%.

Plastics, which offer high performance and durability, as well as lighter weight compared with steel, aluminium and glass, may help lower fuel consumption, according to the council.

In some vehicles, the use of plastics in bumpers, body panels, lighting, fuel tanks, and other components has helped cut total vehicle weight up to a whopping 90kg.

According to Mark Kingsley, General Manager of Global Marketing, GE Plastics, Automotive: "GE supplies high-performance plastics and compounds that are used by more than 20 OEMs worldwide, including Ford, GM, DaimlerChrysler, Opel, Nissan and BMW brands".

"One of the main reasons why automotive manufacturers can use GE's materials is to promote better fuel efficiency".

"Through our ecomagination initiative, we're constantly looking for new ways to help fuel economy - among other environmentally responsible efforts - and are confident that, with best-practice engineering, we could drop a vehicle's weight by up to 25 to 50 pounds, potentially saving consumers around the world up to 95 million litres a year".

GE offers the auto industry a wide range of thermoplastic resins and compounds as lightweight alternatives to metals, wire/cable systems, and glass for the following benefits.

For wire- and cable-coating for auto electrical systems, GE's Flexible Noryl resin allows ultrathin coatings compared with traditional materials that help reduce overall wire bundle size by up to 25% for lower weight and mass.

Under-the-bonnet vehicle components, such as electronic throttle bodies, can weigh up to 50% less when constructed from GE's heat-resistant Ultem resin grades.

Glass replacement with GE's Lexan polycarbonate resin can lighten the automotive load by up to 50% while providing parts integration, excellent aesthetics and transparency, and weather-resistance.

GE's high-tech LNP specialty compounds offer lightweight alternatives to a wide array of metal components, as well as a diversity of customised performance qualities for specialised applications.

Using GE's Noryl GTX resin instead of steel for fenders and tailgates may reduce the weight of these parts by 40% and provide styling freedom and high impact resistance.

GE also offers Lexan SLX resin as a lower-weight, paint-free, environmentally responsible option to painted metal on automotive body panels.

The company also provides a range of other lightweight plastic alternatives to metal for wiper systems, machined brackets, transmission components, fuel systems, valve covers, thermostat housings, compressor housings, and die-cast or machined parts.

The same applies for other popular vehicles traveling the nation's highways.

For example, GE's Cycoloy CE1820 extrusion-grade resin used in the design of the Winnebago View and Itasca Navion motor homes can raise fuel efficiency by reducing part weight by up to 17%.

GE's resins and compounds can further help consumers extend the useful life of vehicles with components that are more resistant to corrosion, heat, and impact.

Through the company's ecomagination programme, GE is helping automotive customers address tough environmental challenges by investing in new resin and composite technologies that also increase interior space and passenger comfort, improve colour retention and gloss, and provide greater design freedom.

Improved design capability, based on GE's advanced material technologies, could enable automotive designers to create colourful and easily replaceable body panels and components.

One possibility: automobiles with the option of "two cars within one", with accessories that totally change the look and feel of the car and combine greater efficiency, performance, and style in one package.