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Safety Orange: New range of polyamide for safer electric vehicles

As the electric vehicle market continues to gain momentum, under-hood safety becomes an increasingly important consideration, since both hybrids and full electrics rely on high voltage for the powertrain. Parts representing a potential electric shock hazard must be instantly recognizable to alert production line employees, after-sales personnel and car owners. Orange has become the established color to identify high voltage , contact protected components in electric vehicles. The challenge for component-makers is to utilize compounds that feature pigment stability, along with heat and high voltage resistance – and that are regulatory compliant.

In powertrain electrification systems, any live parts carrying more than 30 V AC or 60 V DC are a potential electric shock hazard,” says Hubert Ruck, Global Director New Mobility for Solvay. “These parts must be instantly recognizable to alert production line employees, car owners, staff at service stations, breakdown service, fire brigades and other people. Anticipating this trend, we have adapted our electrical safety polymer offering to meet regional regulations with specific shades of orange to identify potentially hazardous components at first sight.

To help manufacturers meet this challenge, Solvay has developed Technyl® Orange, a new range of fire-resistant products for high-voltage automotive components and cabling in electric vehicles. The array of Technyl® Orange grades in standard RAL shades is designed for applications such as cables, connectors, charge plugs and sockets, converter housings, sensors and insulators.

Perfect pigment
The new palette of orange pigmented Technyl® grades offers reliable color retention, laser-marking, flame-retardancy (FR), high heat- and fatigue-resistance. The materials are available in RAL 2003 for vehicles in Europe and RAL 2008/2011 for exports to North America. All include various halogen-free grades of Technyl® One and Technyl Star® based technologies, with UL94 V0 flammability ratings at wall thickness as low as 0.4 mm.
This level of performance allows for further miniaturization of electrical and connection components in EVs and hybrids without compromising safety. All grades also feature excellent color stability, low mold deposit and a comparative tracking index (CTI) of 600 volts and above.
This new Technyl® Orange range is backed by the Technyl® Force’s extensive experience in Halogen-Free Flame Retardant (HFFR) polyamides for electrical and electronic markets. In addition to the most reliable HFFR material portfolio, all our customers can benefit from HUB by Technyl®, a unique platform of connected services and dedicated experts, which notably includes its own UL-certified laboratory.

Find out more about Technyl® Orange and how it can make your EV and hybrid electrical components safer.