German chemical giant BASF, luxury car manufacturer Audi and high-tech polymer maker Covestro have developed their first product together: a clearcoat for cars designed to lower energy use.
Using a biobased hardener made by Covestro, BASF developed the coating, which has been tested on a fleet of Audi Q2 vehicles.
The coating helps resist scratches, protects against wear-and-tear and gives cars a glossy look. The companies say it is also comprised of 70 percent renewable materials, which reduces fossil fuel consumption.
“Our new clearcoat helps our customers to reach their sustainability targets, without having to compromise in terms of quality and performance,” Matthijs Groenewolt, head of clearcoat and topcoat development Europe at BASF, said.
The companies haven’t cleared all of the testing hurdles required to use the coating on a mass-production scale, but believe they won’t have any troubles getting the product to market.
“The use of biobased raw materials in automotive coatings is still in its infancy,” Thomas Heusser, head of Materials and Process Engineering at Audi, said. “But the application of the new clearcoat on our existing machines fulfilled all our specifications and delivered promising results. With this project Audi takes up a pioneering role in this field in the automotive industry.”