Electric vehicles are fuelling market demand for plastic components

As the global momentum of EV production continues at pace, automotive manufacturers are increasingly turning to alternative component materials to help improve the overall efficiency of electric vehicles.

With government regulations on vehicle emissions, a key driver for EV growth, most automotive manufacturers are now looking at using plastics as base materials to build automotive parts.

Plastics and composites have been used in vehicles for decades, mainly due to their lightweight properties which can be 30% to 50% less compared to metal. Today, lightweight plastics can make up 50% of a vehicle’s volume, but only 10% of its weight. Therefore, it is a natural development that plastic components are being incorporated into electric and hybrid vehicles. This helps to help offset the weight of electric motors and battery housings, and provides the performance and efficiency.

The perfect material for design teams

There are further benefits with plastic components including their exceptional electrical and thermal insulation qualities, and its resistance to corrosion. For those in the design field, plastic remains an extremely flexible material, one that can be incorporated into even the most complex components with relative ease and freedom. And for high volume production, an important factor as EV production continues to increase, it’s possible to remain pleasingly cost-effective.