The Federal Motor Transport Authority has estimated that in Germany alone there are currently over 200,000 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. And this is just the beginning. In the coming years the automotive industry plans to launch numerous battery-powered cars and plug-in hybrids onto the market. At the end of 2018 there were 60 electric car models available on the European market. The Transport & Environment Organization expect this figure to rise to 214 by 2021, and by 2025 around 22 percent of all new cars will be plug in vehicles. These estimates illustrate the megatrend towards e-mobility and also highlight the challenges and opportunities facing suppliers and material producers.
ROWA Masterbatch has been well positioned in this field for a long time. The company has polymer-specific solutions for more or less all plastics; currently 160 different polymer carriers are in use. ROWA Masterbatch is already capable of meeting new, customer-specific requirements and product needs coming from the e-mobility market environment. One example is PBT plastics, which are used for the orange color identification of high voltage. High temperature resistant thermoplastics such as PA66, PPA, PPS, etc. are also in this field.
Another use for ROWALID® Masterbatches in electric vehicles is for the on-board electrical systems, where cable harnesses are installed using connectors. These connectors are produced in corresponding signal colors to ensure simple, error-free connection. The most common plastics are PBT and TPU. ROWA Masterbatch already supplies the required colors used in this sector. Polymer-specific color concentrates can be produced within a very short time for the desired custom color coding of specific polymers used for electric car components. ROWA Masterbatch is well prepared for the expected increasing demand for special solutions for the automotive industry - the future is now!