Despite the oil price and problems related to energy supplies, the total number of conventional vehicles on the road is rapidly increasing.
In Italy only, the number of circulating vehicles rose from 33 to 48 million (of which 36 million private vehicles) between 1995 and 2011, of which 13 million still belong to the most polluting Euro 0 category.
If we consider the trend all over the world, that means 1,2 billion hydrocarbon vehicles by 2020, it is clear that the search for alternatives to fossil fuels should be encouraged as soon as possible.
The first basic step is, of course, the review of the mobility concept by introducing new approaches such as vehicle sharing, vehicle rental along the way, and public fleets.
From this perspective, vehicles driven by electric motor represent a valid alternative to traditional projects, but also to other sustainable solutions such as, for example, hydrogen cars.
According to several companies involved and authoritative research institutions, interesting market shares of 15-20 percent on newly registered vehicles are expected for electric vehicles by 2020.
New industrial players including manufacturers of electric motors, batteries and charging systems are obviously interested in this macroscopic project review.
Great interest is paid to the diffusion forecast for charging stations, expected to reach over one million points – both public and domestic - in Europe by 2017.
Leading companies such as Scame Parre and LATI decided to believe and invest in substantial projects in this specific industry. Scame developed a new family of connectors, called Libera, designed to connect the electric car to the charging station during charging and data transfer.
The new connectors feature robustness and total safety, thanks to the shutters integrated in the socket and plug body so as to prevent accidental contact with live elements or penetration of foreign bodies into the socket, as it is the case with the household sockets.
Suitable for different charging modes, the new connectors are included in the product catalog New Mobility meant to the future market of electric vehicles.
In this project, LATI cooperates with its LATAMID 66 H2 G/25-V0HF1 material, a new generation of flame retardant compound based on PA66. Provided with excellent robustness and mechanical strength, the LATAMID grade offers not only excellent flame resistance certified by UL V0 approval up to 0.75 mm, but also maximum glow wire performance – GWFI = 960°C.
So this material is best suited to applications involving live parts crossed by high currents, as it happens, for example, in charging infrastructures (min. 16 A).
Exposure to high voltages and currents is possible thanks to the excellent tracking resistance (CTI = 600 V), which is higher than that of most conventional flame retardant compounds.
This property also prevents unpleasant events such as short-circuits. All the above mentioned properties are due to the use of absolutely environmentally and health friendly additives free from halogen, antimony, and red phosphorous as well as - of course - complying with the most stringent and updated industry regulations, first of all RoHS.
Once again, LATI proves to be a valid support to companies writing the future we will be living in.