As the automotive industry continues to move towards electrification, OEMs are increasingly required to build vehicles that are lighter, more cost-effective and have longer range. Global diversified chemicals company SABIC is working to popularize high-strength, lightweight plastics in a variety of electric vehicle battery applications through its BLUEHERO™ program. These new material applications include all-plastic and plastic-gold composite end plates. Each cell contains end plates to ensure cell compression and expansion requirements to optimize electric vehicle battery packs.
To reduce end plate weight, SABIC uses its proprietary flame retardant (FR) thermoplastic material STAMAX™ 30YH570
Resin replaces the usual aluminum. After prototype testing, the battery end plates were made into three models: all-plastic, aluminum-plastic composite and steel-plastic composite. Depending on structural life requirements, composite or all-plastic designs will be preferred.
SABIC will perform mechanical testing on these different materials to verify their performance under different load pressure and temperature conditions.
The SABIC team is also investigating the possibility of using glass-filled FR VALOX™ (PBT) resin to manufacture battery module end plates.
Advantages of plastic compared to aluminum
Rigorous testing shows that using SABIC’s STAMAX 30YH570 resin to produce end plates has significant advantages over traditional metal.
● Cost and weight are reduced due to the use of lighter materials and a one-step manufacturing process.
● Injection-moldable end plates enable customers to meet structural performance standards and give them the flexibility to produce expandable end plates in high volumes.
● Improved flame retardant properties to further protect batteries and cars from thermal accidents.
When using traditional aluminum, the end plates must undergo a series of machining before they can be assembled, potentially resulting in higher parts costs. By using formable thermoplastics, designs become simpler and functional integration is complemented by a one-step manufacturing process. These are material, design and processing advantages that offer cost-saving potential.
In addition to the structural advantages of SABIC battery end plate materials, the lighter design helps increase a vehicle’s driving range and reduces CO2 emissions.
About SABIC
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is a world-renowned diversified chemical company headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The company’s manufacturing plants are located around the world, including in many countries and regions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, and its products cover chemicals, general and high-performance plastics, agricultural nutrients and steel.
In key end application markets such as construction, medical equipment, packaging, agricultural nutrients, electronic appliances, transportation and clean energy, SABIC has long been committed to helping customers explore potential opportunities.
In 2022, SABIC’s net profit reached 16.53 billion rials ($4.41 billion), and total sales reached 198.47 billion rials ($52.92 billion). As of
At the end of 2022, the company’s total assets reached 313 billion rials ($83.46 billion). In 2022, SABIC’s total production will reach 61 million tons.
SABIC operates in approximately 50 countries around the world and has more than 31,000 employees. Adhering to the spirit of innovation and original thinking, SABIC’s various patents and pending applications have reached
10,090 items. The company has rich scientific research resources and has innovation centers in five core regions: the United States, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and North Asia.
About BLUEHERO™
SABIC’s BLUEHERO initiative is an expanding ecosystem of materials, solutions, expertise and projects designed to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to electricity in support of global climate change goals. The program will initially focus on the automotive industry, with at its core SABIC’s global team of experts with expertise in the design, testing and data generation of electric vehicle batteries and related applications. The BLUEHERO program also once again fulfills SABIC’s corporate commitment to help customers achieve their business goals and address one of the biggest challenges of this era: moving towards a low-carbon future and a clean air economy for the benefit of people and the planet.
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