PLEXIGLAS® Outshines the Competition

People are living longer on average. So is their favorite accessory: the car. Most people want to look good well into old age, and they want the same for their aging car. It should retain its brilliant gloss for as long as possible, and the colors should be as fresh and vivid as on the day it was bought. PLEXIGLAS® makes this possible, but at considerably lower cost—reason enough for European car makers to rely increasingly on this material from Evonik.

pic:High-gloss and durable: Car body components made from PLEXIGLAS® and PLEXALLOY® molding compounds have a luxurious appearance.

The surface of a car roof takes a lot of punishment from the environment, mainly in the form of high temperatures and solar UV radiation. PLEXIGLAS® CoolTouch™ signifcantly reduces heat buildup in plastic parts for external applications, sometimes by more than 20 percent. The heat reflecting properties also positively impact the climate in the interior of the car. Because the temperature is lower, air conditioning requires less energy, saving fuel and thus reducing CO2 emissions.

pic: Staying cool: Heat-reflecting PLEXIGLAS® CoolTouch™ lowers the temperature not only on the surface of a car roof, but also in the interior of the vehicle, thus providing for greater driving safety and comfort and a reduced accident risk.

Coated plastic parts are costly to produce because they involve an additional work step. The use of PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds completely eliminates this step, leading to cost savings of about 40 percent, compared to coated component systems.

The benefits go beyond cost savings and environmental aspects. With its special properties, PLEXIGLAS® offers a particularly luxurious appearance and a high-quality surface for add-on components. BMW was the first manufacturer to be convinced of the benefits of the PMMA molding compound, which were demonstrated in the MINI reference project. After that, all European car manufacturers followed suit. About 30 such applications are now in mass production, using the plastic developed by Dr. Otto Röhm and his team 75 years ago. The new model of a high-end middle-class car, for example, has a PLEXIGLAS® trim between the rear window and the trunk compartment, which makes that area look bigger. The material, made by Evonik, is also used in the B-pillar panel of this car.

pic: Strong and sophisticated:
With its jet-black high-gloss PLEXIGLAS® cover layer, the radiator shutter of the MAN truck looks elegant and protects against wind and weather.

This special plastic would also appear to be the ideal material to meet the requirements of utility vehicles. The materials used in trucks must be extremely robust and durable—and yet allow an attractive exterior design. In the new MAN truck, the radiator shutter, which features a jet-black, high-gloss PLEXIGLAS® cover layer, marks the plastic‘s successful entry into the truck segment of the market. The co-extruded material here protects the plastic base effectively against weathering.

The Performance Polymers Business Unit of Evonik Industries is a worldwide manufacturer of PMMA products sold under the PLEXIGLAS® trademarks on the European, Asian, African and Australian continents and under the trademark ACRYLITE® in the Americas.