New energy vehicles put forward higher requirements for the dosage and performance of adhesives.

In recent years, the wave of electrification has swept the world, and the new energy automobile industry has rapidly developed. As the core product upstream of the electric automobile industry chain, the demand for power batteries has exploded. At the same time, the market scale of adhesives has also been enlarged simultaneously. In 2022, the global tram adhesive market scale reached US$ 2.142 billion. In the same period, the China tram adhesive market scale was US$ 1.513 billion, accounting for about 70% of the global market.

On October 30th, 2024, the China Adhesives and Tape Industry Association(CATIA) held the 15th Polyurethane Adhesive Technology and Information Conference in Jinan, Shandong Province, and mentioned that the rapid development of new energy vehicles is bringing more development opportunities for the adhesive industry.

In August 2024, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China exceeded 50%. It is estimated that the penetration rate will exceed 40% in 2024 and will reach more than 60% in 2030. With the increase of three electric systems, continuous innovation of power battery systems and lightweight design of new energy vehicles, the amount of rubber used is increasing. According to the statistics of the China Adhesives and Tape Industry Association(CATIA), the average vehicle adhesive for new energy vehicles has reached 25 kg.

Under the trend of the lightweight of new energy vehicles, the number of structural parts and welding is reduced, which puts forward higher requirements for the amount of adhesive and the performance of the adhesive. Power battery is known as the "heart" of new energy vehicles, and adhesive is the "muscle tissue" to realize the lasting power of the "heart", which plays the roles of structural bonding, protection and thermal management.

With the multi-route development of new energy batteries, the functional requirements of adhesives are also changing significantly. The functions of Polyurethane Adhesive products will evolve to multi-functions such as flame retardancy, lightweight, insulation, heat preservation, low modulus and high strength, and the development trend of polyurethane adhesive materials will change from simple adhesion and heat preservation to comprehensive properties such as adhesion, heat preservation, insulation, protection and filling.

Adhesives will make new energy vehicles safer, greener, environmentally friendly and energy-saving, and each battery pack can be reduced by 10-20kg, which will not only improve the safety, strength and durability of vehicles but also improve the energy-saving efficiency by 5%-10%.

With the development of new energy vehicles and the improvement of environmental requirements in automobiles, sealants for bonding lightweight materials such as environmental-friendly polyurethane sealant, reactive polyurethane hot melt adhesive, waterborne polyurethane adhesive, flame-retardant and heat-conductive functional polyurethane adhesive and rubber-plastic composite material has a good development prospect, and the adhesive for new energy batteries will be a hot spot in the polyurethane market in the future.