In the new energy vehicle market with a market value of 100 billion, will the demand for cable materials bring new opportunities for the elastomer industry?

With the improvement of people's living standards, more and more families have joined the ranks of buying cars. The arrival of cars has improved our travel efficiency and changed our way of life. However, in the increasingly stringent carbon emission regulations and global Under the carbon neutrality goal, it may only be a matter of time before car companies stop producing fuel vehicles.At present, many car companies around the world have begun to accelerate the transition to new energy.

Up to now, many companies have announced plans to stop the sale of fuel vehicles.

2025 - BAIC, Changan, Jaguar, Nissan

2030 - Volvo, Cadillac, Mazda and more

2035 - Volkswagen (European market), GM

2040 - Honda

...

Significant changes are taking place between the new energy vehicle market and the traditional fuel vehicle market.Data show that in 2021, the domesticThe total wholesale volume of new energy passenger vehicles increased by 181.0% year-on-year to 3.312 million units, retail sales increased by 169.1% year-on-year to 2.989 million units; domestic sales in 2021Wholesale volume of fuel vehicles fell 4% to 17.79 million units, retail sales fell 6% to 17.16 million.

As a platform with a high degree of electrification and integration, new energy vehicles are as indispensable as the blood vessels in the human body.

New energy vehicles have very high requirements for safety performance. If there is a short circuit in the line, spontaneous combustion and other problems will lead to serious accidents, the importance of which can be imagined.

It is precisely because of this that the requirements of various automobile manufacturers for supporting cables for new energy vehicles have become quite high, which also puts forward strict performance requirements for cable materials.

In a broad sense, the main application scenarios of new energy vehicle cablesIn addition to the in-car line, it also includes charging guns/charging piles and on-board chargers.

Different application scenarios also have different environmental characteristics, for example,High voltage and high current in new energy vehicles and limited space, charging pile cables are exposed outdoors for a long time, The particularity of the use environment has different strict requirements on the performance of the cable material.

Generally speaking, new energy vehicle cable materialsIt needs to have high and low temperature resistance, oil resistance, water resistance, flame retardant, tear resistance, insulation, UV aging resistance and other properties.The most commonly used materials areTPE, TPU, XLPO, NBR+PVC, Neoprene, SiliconeWait.

Since the long-term use temperature of the cable of the charging pile is -40℃~105℃ and -40℃~125℃, its requirements for the cable are oil resistance, halogen-free flame retardant, weather resistance, aging resistance, softness, low temperature resistance, etc. Therefore, the inner sheath can use halogen-free flame retardant TPE, TPU, and the outer sheath can use PVC, halogen-free flame retardant elastomer, etc.

Application advantages of thermoplastic elastomer TPU material in charging cable:

*1. In terms of mechanical properties, the tensile strength of polyether TPU is far superior to other sheath materials. Above 25Mpa, the elongation is also above 500%. It has good bearing capacity, impact resistance and shock absorption. performance;

*2. In terms of temperature performance, TPU has better low temperature resistance, which can reach -50 °C, which can fully meet the cold environment in the north;

*3. The tear strength greater than 80kN/m can effectively prevent the cracking of the sheath;

*4. The TPU sheath has the characteristics of halogen-free flame retardant and will not cause pollution to the environment;

*5. TPU is also excellent in bending resistance, abrasion resistance, oil resistance, hydrolysis resistance and weather resistance.

In the future 'low carbon economy' era, the exploration and use of new energy is an inevitable trend of economic development, and it is also a powerful weapon for countries to enhance their international competitiveness.With the increasingly severe environmental protection and the rise of low-carbon economy, energy conservation and emission reduction have gradually become the focus of the world's attention.

The development and use of fuel vehicles has brought a lot of pressure to the environment. Under the advocacy of energy-saving emission reduction and green travel policies in various places, most car companies have begun to develop their own new energy models, and the emergence of new models has also brought new challenges. demand, the choice of cable materials may become a new outlet!