Air cooler end cap made with BASF lightweight polyamide helps make vehicles more energy efficient
- Air cooler end cap made with BASF’s Ultramid® is 40% lighter than the metal equivalent
- Lightweight material solutions save energy and help car makers meet stringent emission standards in China
Shanghai, China – July 10, 2018 – The engine performance and fuel efficiency of cars can now be further improved with a lightweight air cooler end cap made of BASF’s high temperature resistant Ultramid® polyamide. Together with BASF, global automotive supplier Hanon Systems has developed a component that replaces conventional metal caps and enables a weight reduction of 40%.
“75% of fuel consumption is related to vehicle weight, meaning that reducing weight continues to be crucial to today’s automakers. We expect that demand will continue to grow for replacing metal with composite polymers,” said Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF. “Using Ultramid in applications like this improves engine performance and production costs. It also helps automotive manufacturers meet the increasingly stringent emission standards in China.”
Ultramid A3W2G10 is used for the first time in the air cooler end cap application by Hanon Systems in the China market, owing to its superior heat aging resistance for long-term use under pressure fluctuations. The grade possesses excellent strength and stiffness retention at elevated temperatures, and improved weld line strength, while still being easy to process and providing an excellent surface finish. It is also widely used in thermal management systems.
About BASF in Greater China
BASF has been a committed partner to Greater China since 1885. With investments in Shanghai, Nanjing and Chongqing, BASF is a major foreign investor in China’s chemical industry, and maintains the Innovation Campus Shanghai as a global and regional research and development hub. BASF posted sales of €7.3 billion in 2017 to customers in Greater China, and employed 8,982 people as of the end of that year. For further information, please visit www.basf.com/cn.
About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 115,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of €64.5 billion in 2017. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at: www.basf.com.
