Composites are often used in motor racing and small high-end / luxury cars, which are usually conducive to continuous carbon fiber materials. From 2021 to 2022, the growth in these two areas continues. For markets where medium-sized and mass-produced models are more cost sensitive, composites continue to grow steadily and incrementally, mainly through continuous glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP), such as leaf springs and chopped fiber molding compounds, including sheet molded plastic (SMC) body panels and frames, block molded plastic (BMC) shells and support structures, and injection molded thermoplastics for bumper frames, liftgates and seat structures.
Battery housing
Another important driving force of automotive composites is the global promotion of zero emissions by 2050, which leads to an increase in the development and production of electric vehicles (EV). In September 2020, California announced that it would require all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state to achieve zero emissions by 2035. At the same time, the EU has set its 2030 target to reduce the CO2 emissions of new vehicles to 50% by 2021. Level, higher than the previous 37.5%. Julia Atwood, director of advanced materials at Bloomberg Nef, said in a speech at iacmi's fall 2020 member meeting that the average price of electric vehicles is expected to be lower than that of internal combustion engine (ice) vehicles by 2025. She predicts that by 2037, the global sales of electric vehicles will exceed that of internal combustion engine vehicles, and will reach 50million vehicles / year by 2050.
The paradigm shift in powertrain technology has introduced the need for a robust battery housing system on a large scale, which can meet strict mechanical and impact requirements, as well as fire, smoke and poison resistance, to protect vehicle occupants in the event of a battery fire. In addition, since the battery pack increases the weight of the vehicle, the shell is also required to help reduce the weight. For all these reasons, composites have proved to be very advantageous in battery housing applications, and these structures - in cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles - are becoming the main opportunities for composites to be used in ground transportation.