Smart Molding International 2-2022

49 materials www.smart-molding.com S ABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, has recently introduced BLUEHERO™, an ex- panding ecosystem of materials, solu- tions, expertise and programs aimed to help accelerate the world’s energy transition to electric power and sup- port meeting global goals on climate change. The company’s starting point with BLUEHERO is support of the au- tomotive industry’s mission to create better, safer and more efficient electric vehicles (EVs), with an emphasis on im- proving structural battery components with unique flame retardant materials and solution development expertise. The automotive industry is leading the charge in moving toward new, more sustainable mobility systems. This includes a major shift towards battery powered EVs, which can con- vert over 77 percent of electricity into movement compared to only 12 to 30% for vehicles with internal combustion engines. In addition to this high perfor- mance, EVs also emit no tailpipe pol- lutants and are typically responsible for significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions during operation – enabling important contributions to meeting global goals on climate change. SABIC provides cost-effective and technologically advanced thermoplas- tics – which can offer significant advan- tages over conventional materials (met- als) – to help the automotive industry further enhance the performance of EVs. For example, using plastics in EV battery, electrical and charging com- ponents can deliver multiple benefits: reduced weight and system complexity, extended driving range, expanded de- sign freedom, streamlined manufactur- ability, recyclability, and enhanced ther- mal management and occupant safety. SABIC’s new BLUEHERO electrifica- tion initiative also leverages specific knowledge and expertise around large part molding, compression molding, advanced injection molding and poly- mer flame interaction to help support customers with solutions that can meet critical requirements and enable effi- cient production. The company expects to strengthen and expand its thermoplastic offering to help enable electrification with the elevated focus and new investments that will become available under BLUEHERO. An integral element of SABIC ’s BLUEHERO ecosystem is its global team of engineers, research fellows and scientists. This team is harnessing its established and growing expertise in design, testing and data generation for EV batteries and related applica- tions to problem solve and overcome current limitations. As part of its work, the team collaborates with customers, development partners and others across the value chain, from OEMs and tiers to tooling suppliers and test- ing agencies. With promising opportunities for the world to employ electric technolo- gies, SABIC anticipates expanding the focus and scope of its BLUEHERO ini- tiative to help support efforts in addi- tional sectors. Those could potentially include energy storage, charging infra- structure, other modes of transport and industrial and consumer equip- ment. SABIC www.sabic.com Further enhance the performance of EV SABIC launches BLUEHERO™ to help accelerate shift to electrification and lower carbon future, with initial focus on automotive industry. Picture: SABIC