30 March 2015, 00:00
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Superlight ‘e-floater’ made possible with more than 80% composite and plastic materials
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Plastic materials enable design freedom and streamlined construction
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Jointly developed by BASF and Floatility
“This is a perfect example of how we cooperate with our partners to fully unfold the strengths of our innovative materials. The e-floater combines stability, durability and safety with an exciting, functional design,” said Andy Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Asia Pacific, BASF.
BASF will provide versatile plastic materials and support the project with its extensive development capabilities. Molding multiple parts to create complex shapes with plastic materials enables design freedom and the streamlined construction of the ‘e-floater’. Various grades of glass fiber reinforced Ultramid® (Polyamide) will be used for most of the e-floater’s structure: While the mineral-filled Ultramid® B3M6 is used for the parts where low warpage is crucial, the impact modified Ultramid® B3ZG8 combines toughness and stiffness in a way that is favorable for structural parts that have to resist crash-loads. The surface-improved Ultramid® B3G10 SI offers high surface quality to the parts despite its high fiber content. The reinforcement for front body and deck will be made with the new Ultracom™ composite materials to ensure stability.
Together with Ultralaminate™ B3WG13, a thermoplastic laminate and the adapted overmolding compound Ultramid® B3WG12 COM, BASF also offers its processing and designing support for the development of continuous fiber reinforced parts. Tires and handlebars made with BASF’s TPU Elastollan® will provide a good grip and smooth floating.
Oliver Risse, Founder and CEO of Floatility added, “The cooperation with BASF enables us to develop a state-of-the-art short distance urban mobility solution to provide mobility-on-demand for the future. In this way the e-floater will play a key role in making short journeys more convenient, quick, affordable and sustainable.” This bridges the gap on the last mile between home or city center and the nearest public transport.
To celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2015, BASF is rolling out a global co-creation program with partners on the topics of energy, food and urban living. In line with this program, the joint development project by BASF and Floatility aims to combine the materials and know-how of BASF with the innovative capabilities of Floatility to address a key challenge of urban environments: short distance journeys.