It's no surprise that there's a drive is to reduce vehicle weight — lighter weight equals better fuel economy … Simple as that.

And we know fuel economy is the target, but it is also fundamentally about reducing the dependence on fossil fuels and improving energy efficiency.

How will automakers meet the fuel mileage regulations?

That's the question we asked members of the Society of Automotive Engineers earlier this year. And this is what they told us…it will be primarily by downsizing the engine, but adding power boost technologies so consumers don't feel the compromise.

Here's a more detailed view from a National Research Council report that engaged industry, academics and government to estimate the efficacy, cost, and applicability of technologies that might be used over the next 15 years.

The takeaway? There is no silver bullet: no one answer fits all.

The call to action? For us in the plastics industry — our time is here again. No matter which technology is used, every component, every system needs evaluation to reduce weight, integrate functions and reduce overall cost.

Three things plastics do very well

While this session is focused on under-the-hood components, a lot of what we discuss applies to any of the functional parts found in the chassis, interior and all those unseen places in the vehicle...

Today, as I said, we want to focus not just on lightweighting — but how materials can help automakers improve fuel economy … and how materials can help reduce dependence on fossil fuels. And do all that cost effectively.

Along the way I want to break three paradigms ….

Paradigm 1 is about the doubters… "You want to make that with what? Plastics?"

We still run into people who think that the only place for plastic is at a picnic… for cups and utensiles!

You'd think by now — millions of miles and hundreds of applications later — it wouldn't be such a surprise about the performance of these advanced materials… but as we push farther into new areas and try to understand opportunities for reducing weight in vehicles, we will run into even more doubters.

Shown here are just a few applications that many thought impossible not too long ago.

And today we have even greater opportunities with higher-heat capable materials and constructions involving materials like DuPont™ Nomex®, DuPont™ Teflon® fluoropolymers and other ingredients that can take really aggressive environments.

And for use under the hood, this is even more critical today where internal combustion engines, temperatures and pressures are going up,  pushing the limits of traditional polymers — let's take a look at some places we can go…

We talked earlier about the key role smaller engines with power boosting technologies will play looking forward.

Turbocharged engines specifically are pushing temperatures and pressures to higher limits.

Additionally, they add complexity and additional components that can bring unwanted cost and weight.

Components in the turbocharger system operate in environments that many would have thought too aggressive for plastics and elastomers.

Here we see, based on temperatures, many options for elastomers, fibers and plastics that can be deployed in these applications, depending on the particular requirements. Many applications require a composite solution utilizing several different materials.

Over the years, we've made some impressive gains to reduce weight — and cost — using plastics under the hood. There is significant additional potential.

Here we talk about 11 kg of weight savings resulting in millions of gallons of fuel saved

However, to meet the future mass reduction targets, we will need a lot more. For example, 10% vehicle mass reduction translate to almost 200kgs of mass taken out of the vehicle.

So that brings us back to the original paradigm: 'You can't do that with plastic.

We need to look at those areas we once thought impossible; challenge the doubters and develop creative new ideas. This will take more material development and ability to convince the industry through realistic testing and — importantly — improved predictive engineering tools and data.

This brings me to the next paradigm… Paradigm 2 is sort of a corollary to the first paradigm… "There is truly no single plastic material that meets all the requirements of my application"

There may be fastening requirements, extremely high temperatures, crash loads, sealing requirements that simply cannot be handled with a single material.

Here we need to think more aggressively about hybrid and multi-material designs. This will necessitate some unique and challenging collaboration and partnerships, bringing different materials together, along with tooling and processing innovation.

Working with Dana in this example, we show the combined benefits of reinforced plastic and an elastomer gasket in an integrated design for an electronic connector gasket.

In most hybrid material designs, bonding of two different materials is a key requirement. The Dana gasket benefited from patented 2K molding technology, licensed to DuPont by Evonik. It allows direct bonding of rubber and plastics and simplifies assembly by eliminating the need for primer or anchoring.

OK, so this is not specifically a lightweighting story, but an example of technology that can be used to make plastic parts more cost effective, potentially enabling other more significant weight reduction opportunities. It also illustrates just how powerful collaborating throughout the value chain can be when it comes time to deliver innovation.

Next, while the lightweighting story is about fuel economy, ultimately it is truly about reducing the use of the finite fossil-based resources that we have on this planet.

One additional way to do this is by using less of these resources in the production of plastics and other materials.

As you probably know, plastics have been developed that are based, at least in part, on raw materials from renewable biological sources. So, Paradigm 3 is about the misconception that you have to make sacrifices in cost and performance if you want to use these materials.

Well we are here to prove that wrong. In the example illustrated here, a new DuPont™ Zytel® RS grade based on PA1010 is used in the production of fuel lines for both diesel and biodiesel systems. The renewably-sourced long-chain nylon was chosen in preference to competitive grades of PA12 on the basis of its superior temperature resistance and long-term aging performance in biodiesel.

It was selected based on performance and cost!

This application is nominated for an SPE Most Innovative Use of Plastics Award — we'll find out in a few hours how we did.

So I want to emphasize that for Plastics and Elastomers, our time is truly here.

While estimates on plastics use in vehicles vary pretty widely, a simple calculation off the formula in this slide predicts we will need about another 200 kgs per vehicle of plastic over this time period.

That's a challenge.

We see plastics and composites continue to play a major role in vehicle lightweighting, because they bring an advantage in terms of cost and parts integration… to reduce weight in engines, transmissions, drivelines and chassis.

However, we will need to up our game to deliver the kinds of mass savings needed.

We heard that loud and clear in a survey we did with Wards Auto in August.

The majority of industry respondents indicated a low level of confidence that today's materials will help meet the fuel economy standards.

To really get there — to get at the 200 kg — we need to recognize that materials are critical to design. We need to bring science and technology even closer to the design table. And we need to not only rethink the way the vehicle is powered, but in many respects, we need to rethink the way we work.

All of my paradigm-busting examples have those same themes at heart — science and collaboration. Science and technology enable these advances, but collaboration is means for bringing them to reality.

The Collaboratory is a term we have adopted in DuPont.

It was actually defined a number of years ago as a "center without walls, in which the researchers can perform their research without regard to physical location".

That really describes pretty well how we need to work, particularly thinking about the global automotive industry.

This year, in DuPont, we made a significant investment in the kinds of collaborative facilities that can better attract people from multiple points in the value chain — connect them around the world and — together — work out solutions. 

We've also made significant investments in science and technology, last year launching more than 1,700 new products and investing 22 percent of our $1.7 billion R&D budget on developing new chemistry and materials to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

This illustrates our efforts to put science to work.

Each cell of this network is an area where DuPont has exceptional scientific depth.

It's a different way of looking at our technologies — we represent it as a network of technologies, because it is the integration of these technologies that really drives the significant innovation.