BASF: Great Potential for China's Automotive Lightweight Market

On March 30th, Hou Yuzhe, President of BASF’s Asia Pacific Region, said in Shanghai that lightweight vehicles are crucial to energy conservation and emission reduction, and China, as the world’s largest automotive production base and market, is also taking a lighter path.

At present, plastics have huge potential for growth in China's automotive market. Domestic auto plastics use only 100 kilograms, and its use in Europe is as high as 190 kilograms. BASF will use its plastic solutions to target the domestic auto lighter market.

It is understood that the lightweight body is very important for the traditional internal combustion engine cars to save energy and reduce emissions. According to statistics, if the vehicle weight is reduced by 10%, the fuel efficiency can be increased by 6%-8%; if the vehicle is reduced by 100kg, the carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by about 5g/km.

In the current planning of the key technologies for new energy vehicles, the three major parts of the motor, electronic control, and battery are more important, and there is no major breakthrough in the lightweight of the vehicle body. BASF responded to the situation by adopting plastic composite materials instead of heavy metal components in light-weight automotive structures, leaving its functionality and stability intact.

“Using this type of material, the body weight can be reduced by 50% and 30%, respectively, compared to steel and aluminum. In a concept car called “smart forvision” that will be on display at this year’s Chinaplas, BASF brings The industry’s first all-plastic hub for mass production, each wheel weighs less than 3 kg less than the aluminum alloy wheels, while other plastic solutions in the car include lightweight seats and high-performance thermal insulation foam. They can save air-conditioning energy consumption in summer and winter,” Hou Yuzhe said.

BASF's focus today on the automotive industry lies in its plastic solutions. Lightweight automotive components not only improve fuel economy but also make vehicles more environmentally friendly. “Our high-performance plastics have been applied to a variety of automotive components to provide domestic customers with reliable lightweight solutions, including intake manifolds, oil sumps, and pedestrian crash protection beams.

By cooperating with China FAW's R&D center, BASF introduced the first plastic oil pan for small-displacement gasoline engines. Compared to the original structure using metal materials, this plastic oil pan reduces the weight by more than 50% and saves costs by simplifying the assembly process in functional integration. “Zheng Daqing, senior vice president of BASF, added.