Range extenders can extend the driving range for an electric vehicle ...

2010 will be presenting an impressive selection of new developments
– new and improved products which signify maximum benefit for users
in their daily business. It’s all about performance enhancements in
machinery, improvements in product quality, materials with enhanced
performance, new process combinations and new approaches to
substituting traditional materials. For the automotive industry, the
focus will be on plastics for lightweight structures (including foams),
functionalized plastics components and surfaces, fiber composites
and their processing and hybrids. There will also be loads of innovative
rubber materials presented at K 2010.
AI: What do you attribute the growth in the use of
plastics to?
Cullmann: In 1970, cars featured about 5% plastic materials.
Today, this is up to 15% and experts predict a substantial increase
in the years to come. A major goal will be to make a substantial
dent in fuel consumption and emissions. Austrian scientists have
discovered that around 88% of the total energy associated with a
car over its entire life cycle is used to create motion. In contrast,
the production of a car and the manufacture of the materials
required employ only about six percent respectively. Plastics play
an important role by reducing weight and slashing petrol intake and
CO2 emissions during the dominant phase in a vehicle’s life cycle.
AI: Why should global automakers and Tier One and Two
component supply chain manufacturers visit K 2010?
Cullmann: The K International Trade Fair has become the
key information platform for developers, designers and production
experts from numerous branches of industry. Exhibitors in turn
have geared themselves up for this clientele. Almost half of all
companies taking part in K are targeting their offerings directly at
industrial users of semi-finished products and technical parts made
from plastic and rubber. First among them is the auto industry.
AI: What are some of the new technologies that K 2010
will be showcasing?
Cullmann: A number of important trends can be named
such as the continued expansion of the properties of
polymers and rubber materials for use “under the bonnet” as
well as in environments where they are exposed to air, motor
oil and high temperatures. Another trend is the simplification
of processing techniques, improved adaptation to the
different applications, integrated manufacturing processes
and optimization of sub processes.
AI: What is the symbiotic relationship between the
plastics and rubber industry and the automotive sector.
Cullmann: One of the key challenges of the automotive
industry is to build lighter and more energy-efficient cars in order
to save fuel and ease the burden of emissions on the atmosphere.
More plastics and rubber need to go into the automotive mix. How
this can be done will be presented at K 2010 in Düsseldorf. AI
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