Homepage > Mobility

Driving Experience

Health

Automakers are increasingly replacing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and rubber floors with POE

Dow’s POE flooring solutions – ENGAGE™ POEs, FUSABOND™ functional polymers and SURLYN™ ionomers – feature:

Low VOC levels

Excellent processability

Good scratching and abrasion resistance​

Today’s consumers pay attention to comfort as well as environment, health and safety aspects in car interiors – thus, automakers must produce cabins with no odor, low volatile organic compound (VOC) levels, stronger durability and with a luxury feel and appearance.​

To address the automotive industry’s need to shift towards increasingly animal product free alternatives to leather, Dow has formulated a breakthrough solution of polyolefin elastomers (POE) based artificial leather.


Key benefits of Dow’s POE leather solution include:

An ultra-soft tactility with better color stability, empowering designers with more flexibility on the choice of color, especially light colors.

Good aging and low temperature resistance, meeting strict requirement of automotive industry

Eliminating the use of hazardous chemicals, plasticizers, and heavy-metals materials

Low volatile organic compounds (VOC) and odor

25 to 40 per cent lighter weight than PVC leather due to lower density​

Today, the automotive industry faces enormous pressure to reduce costs while fulfilling the increasing customer demands for a more high-end luxury driving experience.​​

Dow's next generation ENGAGE™ POE can embody interior parts – like door panels and control panels – with high elasticity haptics, high heat resistance and high fluidity, ensuring that automakers can achieve cost-optimization while upgrading interiors to fulfil customers’ needs.​

img1

*Technical data is based on lab studies conducted by Dow. Results may vary depending on test conditions.

Visual defects in TPO surface appearance – like whitening and tiger stripes – are a common challenge for today’s automakers. Unfortunately, these issues arise from poor formulation design and POE selection.

​​Dow’s next generation ENGAGE™ POE helps to improve the durability of TPO surface effectively after a long-term use via inhibiting POE migration to TPO surface.

LM images of TPO surface aged for 20 Days@105°C​:

HPP/next generation ENGAGE™ POE =70/30​

HPP/next generation ENGAGE™ POE =70/30​

Reducing noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) continues to be a concern for automakers, with main challenges being thermal forming processability, and ensuring low VOC levels.​

Dow’s next generation POE - XUS 38676.00 and ENGAGE™ HMS 7387 POE offer excellent thermal forming processability, low VOC levels, especially in carpet flooring applications.

MobilityScience

Technology on the Move

Learn more →

Recyclable seating & mattress solution