Sustainable composites for lightweight and flame retardant parts for electric vehicles to boost climate benefits: A perspective

Abstract

The global automotive sector is moving towards zero-emission transportation, which has led to the rapid growth of the electric vehicles (EVs) market, projected to reach USD 1318 billion in 2028. The two key challenges that EVs are facing are their heavy curb weight (∼ 1000 lbs. heavier than their petroleum-based counterparts) due to their battery packs, and their fire threat, caused by thermal runaway of batteries. Further, growing concerns about the sustainability of EV technology has created pressure on automotive manufacturers to drive innovation of new materials with less environmental impacts. These challenges can be addressed by developing high-performance sustainable polymer composites for lightweight components for EVs with enhanced flame retardancy without compromising their performance. Manufacturing and integration of automotive parts from sustainable composites target and support the “Circular Economy” of EVs. Lightweighting EV components will increase travel ranges, minimize crash impacts, lower braking distances, and reduce the wear and tear of the tires. In sustainable and renewable composite manufacturing, “engineering plastics” including recycled carbon fibers and sustainable resource derived advanced biocarbon will have an edge over “traditional plastics”. In addition, the inclusion of sustainable flame-retardants in the EV components will increase the flashover duration, resulting in better thermal management and delay in thermal runaway. Thus, in this perspective, the recent acceleration in automotive weight reduction strategies is discussed through the utilization of high-performance lightweight and sustainable composites with superior flame retardancy to address the criteria for the circularity of materials towards climate benefits.