Easing the burden for both small and luxury car manufacturers

A European Commission proposal to limit CO₂ emissions has led to heated debate in the automotive industry, dividing small car manufacturers from their luxury car counterparts. This draft regulation will compel the automotive industry to respect a limit value curve of permitted CO₂ emissions based on a vehicle’s weight. The current goal is to cut average emissions from new cars from current levels of around 160 grammes of CO₂ per kilometre to 130g/km by 2012 through vehicle-technology improvements.

While the final details of this proposal are yet to be approved by Parliament and member states, the Commission is envisaging CO₂ caps proportional to vehicles' weight, with fines of up to EUR 95 per excess gram of carbon dioxide that is emitted. 

Lessening the load

Polypropylene (PP) resins are lightweight materials that provide high performance solutions for interior, exterior and under the bonnet car parts and can contribute to up to 130 kg in vehicle weight reduction. The uptake of PP as alternative materials in car parts implies not only a fuel savings, which in today’s market means direct value to the end consumer, but also a weight savings that will help manufacturers live up to the requirements of any future legislation. 

As a general rule, a 100 kg reduction in the weight of a car translates to roughly 0.5 litres in fuel savings and accounts for approximately 10 grammes of CO₂  emission per kilometres. If we are to use the draft EU legislation as a basis for calculating the amount of weight reduction required to achieve acceptable CO₂  emission levels, then the average European vehicle must reduce its weight by 300 kg. This will lead to 1.5 litres in fuel savings and consequently lower CO₂  emissions by 30 grammes.

Usage of polypropylene in car manufacturing also enhances the ability of part integration and weight savings as shown in different cases. A good example is the usage of polypropylene compounds for exterior body panels which can reduce 25% of the weight of the body panels. When considering that other car parts and modules can be plastics based, a further weight savings potential of approximately 30% can be achieved.

Indeed, polypropylene is not the only plastics material that can be used in automotive interiors. However, polypropylene compounds hold an added weight savings potential in the range of 15-20% versus other plastics materials. Polypropylene is also easy to process and gives low gloss and high scratch resistance which contributes to its high quality feel in car interiors.

Find out more on the possibilities of how PP has improved vehicle weight by offering interior solutions for: