A revolution in automotive technology is underway globally. Automobiles of the 21st century will feature radically improved safety and sustainability attributes. Safety R&D is embracing active and passive systems, and advanced vehicle propulsion R&D is tackling cleaner, more reliable energy sources. The innovations currently under development across multiple transportation venues including aerospace have the potential to alter automotive vehicle designs and supporting infrastructures around the globe by 2025.

These revolutionary changes suggest a critical need to rethink vehicle architecture and materials requirements. Versatile, durable, and lightweight plastics, plastic composites and plastic-metal hybrid materials that increase the efficiency, crashworthiness, and functionality of today’s vehicles hold immense potential to radically enable and optimize advanced vehicle technologies for the future. An important step was taken in this direction in 2002 when the Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council (ACCPD) then known as the American Plastics Council, published Plastics in Automotive Markets—Vision and Technology Roadmap1 to help define this potential.

Recognizing this need and building on Plastics in Automotive Markets, ACCPD sponsored a Technology Integration Workshop in November 2005 to begin exploring the full potential of polymer-based materials to enhance next-generation systems (passive and active) for superior automotive safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Vehicle Safety Research contributed its expertise to the process. R&D priorities were explored in four automotive areas (Interiors, Body/Exterior, Powertrain & Chassis, Lightweighting).

The Technology Integration Workshop Report provides a baseline for a more expansive safety road mapping effort examining Plastic and Composite Intensive Vehicles (PCIVs) that will reflect the consensus of leading technology developers, polymer and composite researchers, automotive safety engineers, designers, manufacturers, and government. This collaborative approach will also help industry, academia, and the government labs identify opportunities for new partnerships to pursue specific technologies or opportunities and will aid NHTSA in coordinating R&D and leveraging resources.

This paper explores the role of the Plastics Industry in facilitating development of Future Vehicle Architectures with enhanced active and passive systems for improved automotive safety worldwide.