Polyolefins are the most widely used polymers in the automotive sector due to their exceptional versatility, superior physical and mechanical characteristics, and lightweight, which reduces fuel consumption and emissions. At the end of 2019, Repsol made an equity investment in the Finnish start-up TactoTek, through its investment fund Repsol Corporate Venturing. The two companies are currently developing the technology to manufacture smart surfaces using polyolefins intended mainly for the automotive sector, representing an innovation in materials that enables new design and integration opportunities to different vehicle parts.
Climate change, shortage of raw materials and the impending traffic gridlocks are forcing a switch to post-fossil energy sources. The solution is: Electromobility. It can create the freedom of movement that modern societies need. New materials are used because new design concepts and functionalities will be realised and integrated in the car of the future. Design, entertainment and communication play an important role as do new energy storage systems such as the fuel cell or the lithium ion battery. This is where the "Bonding Engineers" of Lohmann (Neuwied, Germany) come into play. In the field of functional tapes in particular, the company has been using its inventiveness to introduce innovations that play a considerable role in developments in the electromobility sector.
As a result of modern advanced driver assistance systems, the use of radar technology has become indispensable for the automotive sector. A wide range of systems for adaptive speed control, lane-change support, collision avoidance, and pedestrian and cyclist detection has paved the way for autonomous driving. With the installation of a large and growing number of sensors together with the limited availability of suitably exposed space for them on the vehicle body, there is almost no space left for the installation of sensors.
