The industry is popping these days with decisions on new components and materials for electric vehicles and their batteries. Todd Glogovsky, president of Asahi Kasei Plastics North America, wants to make it clear that there's a big role for plastics in the mix. Metals are strong, but new developments in polymers result in both strength and manufacturability. Glogovsky spoke with News Editor Lindsay Chappell from the company's offices in Fowlerville, Mich. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: Does the industry's shift to EVs play to Asahi Kasei's strengths as a supplier of engineering plastics?

A: When I look at the battery market, I think it's an opportunity for plastics. A lot of our applications are structural components, which are typically noncosmetic, like under the hood. But when you start getting around the battery, that's where the growth is going to be. You're going to have cooling systems, with fans.

There's air, radiators and thermal conductor technologies, and all that's an opportunity for structural black plastic of some type, and we play in those arenas. Lightweighting the components is also going to be crucial for battery range.

Are automotive customers looking for new solutions from you?

We're not the largest compounder in the United States. So our focus can't be just on volume sales. It's got to be innovative, creative solutions. So that's what we're focused on.

What's an example of that?

From an innovative standpoint, I really like what we're doing right now with an aromatic nylon 6i technology. It improves the flow for a more polymer-rich surface, which offers a cosmetic advantage. More polymer on the surface, if it's a black plastic, gives you benefits with laser etching, which is important for under the hood or on some connectors. So you get a stronger plastic but retain your tensile and physical mechanical performance.

We can produce glass-filled materials — up to 60 percent glass-reinforced — that gives us the opportunity to replace cast aluminum or cast metals. So you're moving from metal to this.

And then we've also taken that same technology and adopted a new flame retardant system. It's nonhalogen, so you don't have the toxicity of halogen. It's not red phosphorus, so you don't have the corrosion issues that could short-circuit electrical devices. So this is what we're scaling up now. We see an opportunity with battery applications where you need flame retardants for safety.

Can you say yet what the investment cost will be to do the things you're describing?

I was just meeting about that ... to create a cost model. The products are becoming more complex. It will involve more ingredients at higher performance levels, with aspects like flame retardants. And the new materials will also have an effect on throughput rates. You're going to have piping and material handling considerations. So these are the investments we're making now. And these things don't come free.

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