| DuPont, BMW M GmbH, Dow Inc., Toyota, General Motors, and others creating sustainable, lightweight future
Altair, a global leader in computational intelligence, has named the winners of the 2024 Altair Enlighten Award. Presented in association with the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), the award honors the greatest sustainability and lightweighting advancements that successfully reduce carbon footprint, mitigate water and energy consumption, and leverage material reuse and recycling efforts.
Throughout its 12-year history, this prestigious Enlighten Award has become a coveted prize sought after by the automotive industry’s most forward-thinking companies. It was also recognized by EV Magazine as a top 10 sustainability award in 2024.
“The Enlighten Award is the leading award highlighting the automotive industry’s finest innovations in sustainable technology. We are thrilled to once again recognize the organizations creating a more sustainable future,” said James R. Scapa, founder and chief executive officer, Altair. “This year’s winners can consider themselves the best innovators meeting those challenging targets.”
“Each edition of the Enlighten Award showcases the products, processes, and organizations that are ushering in the next generation of groundbreaking automotive technology,” said Alan Amici, President and Chief Executive Officer, Center for Automotive Research. “We cannot wait to recognize this year’s winners, and we are once again thrilled to present this award in conjunction with Altair and the rest of our valued partners.”
Below is the complete list of all winning organizations, runners-up, and honorable mentions.
Sustainable Product
Winner: DuPont – DuPont™ BETAMATE™ Broad Bake Adhesive Technology
- DuPont™ BETAMATE™ broad bake adhesive technology helps reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions during vehicle body manufacturing by allowing adhesives to cure at lower temperatures, thus saving energy via reduced e-coat oven temperatures and shorter oven cycle times. The technology also eliminates the need for cold storage thanks to a special formulation that extends shelf life.
Runner-up: Bridgestone Americas – Turanza EV Tire
- The Turanza EV grand touring tire is manufactured with 50% renewable and recycled materials – one of the highest percentages among commercially available replacement tires – and features Bridgestone ENLITEN™ technology to optimize performance and improve tire life span. By 2050, Bridgestone is aiming for all their tires to be composed of 100% renewable and recycled materials.
Sustainable Process
Winner: BMW M GmbH, AMC GmbH, Bcomp Ltd., Gradel Lightweight Sàrl, and Lasso Ingenieurgesellschaft – BMW M Visionary Materials Seat
- The BMW M Visionary Materials Seat focuses on circular design principles and sustainable materials. The seat features a monomaterial lightweight design that emphasizes using sustainable, renewable materials such as recycled polyester textile, flaxfiber BioComposite, and biogene leather alternatives. Where possible, petrol-based raw materials through bio-based materials were made from algaes and plant-based fillers – such as chalk and cork. The composite can be made from carbon, basalt, glass fiber, or natural fibers as needed.
Runner-up: Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada and PPG Industries – EPIC200X Electrocoat
- The EPIC200X electrocoat enhances corrosion protection for automotive bodies while significantly reducing environmental impact. At the Toyota facility, the new product and application process enables a total reduction of 3,500 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year. More specifically, the new product reduces the amount of applied product by vehicle by 0.6 kg, while the new application process saves 5,626,000 kWh of energy and 1,843,000 gallons of water per year.
Module Lightweighting
Winner: Syensqo and General Motors – High-Performance Thermoplastic Battery Module Structure
- Syensqo and General Motors have collaboratively designed an innovative high-performance thermoplastic battery module structure that delivers a remarkable 37% weight reduction and a 25% cost savings compared to traditional aluminum. Key features include enhanced vehicle performance through precision injection molding, streamlined component consolidation for simplified assembly, and a unique cell-lock feature that stabilizes battery cells. Additionally, the design eliminates multiple components and processes, further optimizing efficiency.
Runner-up: Toyota Motor Company, US Farathane, and BASF Corporation – Toyota Tacoma Second-Row Composite Seat Structure
- The Toyota Tacoma Second Row Comprise Seat Structure features 30% less mass than the previous generation of steel seats and 20% less mass than the current resin seats seen in the 2022 Toyota Tundra. In addition, the new seat structure consolidated more than 55 parts into just four parts that take little time to be injection molded and shipped.
Enabling Technology
Winner: CompositeEdge GmbH – Next-Gen Sustainable High-Performance Structures
- Aiming to minimize overall material usage, CompositeEdge GmbH utilized natural fiber composites – such as flax and hemp fiber – blended with plastic to form high-performance structures that can support the automated manufacture of car body panels, interior trims, chassis parts, suspension elements, and more without additional adhesives. The use of natural fiber composites significantly reduces carbon emissions and energy consumption compared to synthetic materials. Overall, the technology enables the production of sustainable, lightweight automotive components.
Runner-up: Teijin Automotive Technologies – Fully Automated Preforming Process Enabling Complex CFRP Part
- Teijin Automotive Technologies’ fully automated preforming process enables the mass production of carbon fiber preforms to be used in automotive components – in this case a vehicle door. The precision of the automated process optimizes the amount of material used and recycles a small amount of offal (waste). The previous labor-intensive process was unsuitable for mass production and often resulted in avoidable waste due to human error. The new process is much more efficient, reducing required labor by 20%.
Honorable Mention: Bemis Manufacturing Company and BASF Corporation – Large Hydraulic Tanks for Compact Excavators via BASF’s Ultramid Polyamide
- Bemis Manufacturing Company and BASF Corporation developed large hydraulic tanks for compact excavators using BASF’s polyamide, which provided an eco-efficient solution that delivered both environmental savings (reductions in life cycle CO2 emissions) and reduced life cycle cost. In addition, by combining injection molding and vibration welding, the approach resulted in 5% mass savings and 20% lower costs compared to traditional roto-molding.
Future of Lightweighting
Winner: WEAV3D, Braskem, and Clemson Composites Center – Cost-Effective Lightweight Vehicle Body Structures
- WEAV3D, Braskem, and the Clemson Composites Center developed a composite lattice-reinforced polypropylene sheet tailorable to match the performance of any vehicle body structure on the market. Manufactured with a high rate, highly automated forming cycle that produces more parts using less energy, the new sheet cost 50% less and weighed 23% less than CFPA6 organosheet (nylon 6) and weighed between 60-70% less than steel. The material also boasted a 62% reduction in trim scrap by weight. Lastly, compared to steel, the polypropylene sheet featured superior energy absorption and shape recovery.
Runner-up: Carsolia Composites Corporation – Composite Suspension Coil Spring by Carsolia
- Carsolia Composites Corporation introduced a patent-pending composite coil spring that’s 50% lighter than steel. The carbon fiber composite material also has 50% less CO2 equivalent per kilogram vs. steel, resulting in a 75% overall reduction of CO2 emissions. Manufactured with an efficient production process that supports high volume vehicle production, the spring also enables unique appearance design possibilities that were previously impossible. Ideally suited for battery electric vehicle (BEV) platforms, it’s a direct replacement for current vehicles as a “bolt-on solution” – no redesign needed.
Responsible AI
Winner: Dow Inc. – Sustainable SPECFLEXTM Polyurethane Solutions
- Dow Inc.’s sustainable SPECFLEXTM polyurethane solutions focus on developing and using cleaner raw materials and unique design principles to optimize performance. Achieving equivalent mechanical and ageing properties compared to traditional formulations, these solutions are significantly safer and more sustainable – with over 50% lower total volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 60% lower formaldehyde, and 80% lower acetaldehyde. Moreover, an AI aldehyde predictive model accelerates market response by capturing the factors contributing to odor and translating complicated non-linear features into real-world related performance features – enabling outcome prediction.
As the world demands safer, more efficient and innovative products and processes, Altair aims to transform design and decision making by applying AI-powered engineering, high-performance computing, and optimization throughout product lifecycles. By helping customers accomplish this, Altair helps to reduce the environmental impact of goods and services across a broad array of industries worldwide. Altair’s software technology and consulting services are by their very essence at the core of designing a healthier and more sustainable future for humanity. To learn more, visit https://altair.com/sustainability.
The Enlighten Award winners will be announced in an awards ceremony at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars on August 6, 2024, at 8:00 a.m. EDT. For more information about the Enlighten Award, visit https://www.altair.com/enlighten-award/.
Partners for the 2024 Enlighten Award include Auto Bild Japan, Autocar Professional, Automobil Industrie, Auto Messe Web, Auto Messe Web Worldwide, Center for Automotive Research, Google Cloud, Korean Society of Automotive Engineers (KSAE), SAE Automotive Engineering, and Tech Briefs.
