Home » Articles » Are Plastics the Key to Eco-Friendly Autos?

Rising fuel prices and shifting consumer demand away from gas-guzzling automobiles towards tinier, fuel efficient autos have left automakers thinking on a different tangent. Also, this new line of thought seems to be considering eco-friendliness with as much emphasis as fuel economy.

Not to say that fuel-economy and eco-friendliness are exclusive of each other but that eco-friendliness is on top of the minds of the industry. This is apparent from the words of the President of Honda R&D Co., Ltd, Mr Masaaki Kato who expects a race towards “greener mobility,” with the eventual objective to dramatically reduce CO2 emissions.


Automakers are already riding the 'go green' surf with some big automobile and auto part manufacturers like the Ferrari working to roll out new hybrid models, or the Toyota planning to power the Prius with solar energy and Jaguar and Ford working together to bring out state-of-the-art Flywheel Hybrid Technology to autos.

While a focus on alternative fuel sources or efficient engines has its own place in attaining the ultimate goal, some automotive manufacturers have experimented with newer, lighter materials to design automotive chassis, which head towards the same goal, albeit differently.

Ironically, one such material is a plastic! Pure, artificial, man-made plastic called the “Tegris.” A product of the Milliken and Co., it's a very light thermoplastic composite comprising 100% polypropylene.

The Plastic's Eco-friendliness

It's environment friendly qualities can be assessed on three counts, namely recyclability, being lightweight and being glass-free.

• Recyclability: The material's composition makes it compatible with polypropylene recycle streams.
  

• Light Weight: In comparison to several other composite structures viz. Glass-filled, this one leads to a high degree of weight reduction in objects moulded from it. Being light weight means that autos would consume less fuel and thus lead to less pollution.

• Glass-Free: Compared to the safety issues (viz. skin irritation) encountered with the manufacture of glass-filled composites, this material doesn't pose the same concerns.

The Plastic's Auto-friendliness

It's auto-friendliness is derived from it's properties of impact-resistance, design flexibility and stiffness.

The plastic can achieve an impact resistance of two through fifteen times more than other thermoplastic composites. Additionally, it's performance isn't affected even at low temperatures (-40C). Along with the stiffness it offers, it's design flexibility enables molding of the material to a high precision.

The material has already been used in the manufacture of the Jeep's Renegade Concept, showcased at the Detroit Motor Show 2008. The concept automobile housing a diesel engine makes use of the plastic for the chassis, seat frames, door panels, interior molded tub and in the instrument panel. The Jeep can achieve a fuel economy of over 110 miles per gallon.

It seems there are many ways and their combinations by which auto makers want to achieve eco-friendliness and that “Plastic,” the proverbial environmental menace is perhaps too useful to be shunned outright.