Dätwyler : Sustainable new mobility will depend on clean energy and smart components

For example, sensor-active, smart sealing solutions can help to monitor critical elements such as temperature - helping to predict instances of thermal runaway and thermal propagation, for example, which have the potential to cause serious combustion hazards within battery electric vehicles. China's EV market continues to grow rapidly, which is why the country, as a global pioneer, initiated three mandatory safety regulations on January 1, 2021. One of these is the Electrical Vehicle Traction Battery Safety Requirements (GB 38031-2020) regulation, which entails a five-minute advance window for the occupants of a vehicle to vacate the interior ahead of a thermal runaway event. Smart elastomers are able to deliver such a requirement in addition to the aforementioned day-to-day benefits.

Ultimately, battery electric vehicles are capable of being a carbon efficient mode of transport if the energy sources required for their operation are considered to be renewable. In addition, with the implementation of components such as sensor-active elastomer compounds, the industry can not only learn and improve elements such as the battery itself, but also contribute to a safer more sustainable mobility sector going forward.