Conductive plastics find hybrid car application

ElectriPlast Corp. (Fort Washington, PA), a manufacturer of conductive plastics, has been selected by Tier 1 supplier Lear Corporation (Southfield, MI) to provide ElectriPlast conductive plastics to the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid electric vehicle project currently under way in Valmet, Finland and scheduled to run through 2016.

The high-performance Fiska Karma represents a high profile application for conductive plastics.

Lear has designed a new generation of electrical connectors for Fisker utilizing ElectriPlast's patented line of conductive resins. ElectriPlast and Lear are also working jointly to develop future technologies incorporating ElectriPlast composites into next-generation automotive components and devices. Shipments of ElectriPlast for the manufacturing of the new lightweight electrical connectors are scheduled to begin immediately.

"We are pleased to be selected by Lear for such a high profile vehicle program in the Fisker Karma", said Herbert Reedman, President and CEO of ElectriPlast. "The Fisker Karma represents a change from main stream automotive technology with an eye toward an entirely new generation of electrically-powered vehicles; this is exactly where we want our ElectriPlast products to be."

The Fisker Karma is the world's first premium plug-in hybrid electric vehicle and the embodiment of Fisker Automotive's commitment to creating environmentally conscious vehicles with passion, style and performance. Designed and engineered in California, the four-door, four-passenger Karma is a series plug-in hybrid that combines the zero-emission benefits of an all-electric car with the full driving range of a conventional car. It will offer a responsible alternative to those in the market for traditional full size, fully equipped luxury cars.

The ElectriPlast recipe used in the Fisker Karma was the result of close collaboration between the engineers at Lear and ElectriPlast. It represents just one of 80 available formulations that can be custom designed to replace metal parts and otherwise meet a range of engineering demands and previously unsolvable engineering needs. "[Adoption] follows months of testing and trials in which we proved the significant benefits of incorporating ElectriPlast conductive resins into the next generation high voltage and high power electronic connections," states Paul Mackenzie, Director of Global Sales for ElectriPlast Corporation. "ElectriPlast, with its superior performance, offers engineers flexibility to simplify component design providing reductions in parts, weight and life cycle costs."

Applications for ElectriPlast include; wire, power electronics, EMI shielding, antennas, capacitors and mobile devices. Applicable industries include consumer electronics, aerospace, military, automotive, lighting and heavy industry.-[email protected]