Wacker charged for growth in EV segment

DUESSELDORF, Germany—The future, it appears, is electric. And Wacker Chemie A.G. is positioned to harness its potential.

The Munich-based silicone giant has dedicated itself to a more sustainable future, both in terms of its own operational footprints as well as the types of materials it supplies.

"We have serious carbon-neutral targets in this race to zero," Klaus Pohmer, global segment manager for performance silicones, said from the company's K Show 2022 booth in Duesseldorf. "2045 is one thing, but we want to reach 50-percent carbon neutral by 2030."

With sustainability targets ahead of it, Wacker is aiming some of its growing business opportunities at more sustainable end markets and segments, including within the electric vehicle space.

Electric vehicles, after all, are expected to contain about four times more silicone than legacy internal combustion engine vehicles.

On average, there is between 1.5 and 3 kilograms of silicone in a normal internal combustion engine vehicle; that is expected to increase to between 10 and 12 kilograms in EVs, Wacker experts said.

"This is a great challenge and a great playground for us," said Sebastian Rommel, segment manager for automotive.

One of the key issues Wacker faces moving forward is thermal management.

"To us, this means opportunity," Christian Gimber, vice president of the silicone engineering business unit, told Rubber News at the K Show. "I expect that more traditional applications will drop off, and we are actively engaged in new product applications that will overcompensate our sales into this market."

This has accelerated in the past few years, Gimber said, as fuel cell and battery management are concerned.

"If you remember, you could not turn on your Galaxy phone in an airplane due to the heat dissipation, or failure thereof," he said. "We want to make sure this does not happen in cars as you are sitting in them … and to do this you need some very clever materials."

A "thermal event," said Michael Kalchauer, technical manager for industrial solutions, could see temperatures reach anywhere between 1,000° and 2,000°C.

Gimber said Wacker also is looking beyond elastomers to reach this thermal management goal.

"Very rarely, but sometimes we do," he said. "Thermoset material is very different from our product range and we are examining silicone resin that allows for heat-stable parts."

Rommel and Kalchauer said the EV/silicone revolution is something new for both Wacker and OEMs.

"Gap fillers between the fuel cells require more than one challenge," Kalchauer said. "And this is a new learning phase for OEMs as well. So we need to adjust our products to fit with the OEM's project."

Within an EV, silicone is used in the heads-up display for optical bonding; in sensors for the encapsulation of electronics; in the fuel cell itself for the sealing of bipolar plates; for electrical insulation in high-voltage cables; in high-voltage connectors; in the battery system itself for thermal management; in the e-motor for coil impregnation and active cooling; and in the power conversion system for encapsulation of electronic and thermal management.

"To ensure long-life stability in harsh conditions—like changing temperatures, charging and fast driving—we need continuous improvement," Kalchauer said. "Every project is a living project."