When Tesla or VW build electric cars, adhesives are essential. Companies like Tesa are investing a lot of money in high-tech adhesives - and sense a million-dollar business.
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00:00It's not easy to gain access to the hallowed halls of adhesive production.
00:07A multi-billion dollar industry, and one that also serves the car industry.
00:12Adhesives and fixing tapes are essential components in the production of electric vehicles.
00:18You will find tapes nearly wherever you go.
00:22In your smartphone, in your car key, in your fridge basically.
00:28Automotive industry is a big industry.
00:31In addition to fixing parts in place, adhesives and tapes are also used for filling holes,
00:37for noise insulation, heat conduction, and protecting battery modules from fire.
00:42Regular cars involve around 10 kilos of adhesives.
00:45Electric vehicles, twice that amount.
00:48This is German adhesive manufacturer Tesa's production plant in Hamburg.
00:54The sealant mass is mixed in industrial reactors before being turned into various products.
01:00So we are mixing small molecules, and by chemical reaction we are building up a polymer network,
01:05which is then looking like this.
01:07So we are increasing the viscosity, and these base polymers are basically the backbone of the majority of our adhesives.
01:13The adhesive is then pumped over here, mixed with further ingredients, and then we have the liner.
01:25The liner goes to the coating head, the adhesive then is coated onto the liner.
01:30And next, the tape is wrapped around huge rolls before being cut to size.
01:35With this converting line, we are cutting the width of these jumbos in just a few millimeter tape thickness.
01:42And this is done behind us on this converting line.
01:45We are seeing here the battery pack sealing tape, where the battery packs are sealed underneath the car body.
01:53This special tape has the job of securely sealing the battery housing in an EV,
01:58while also being detachable to allow repairs and recycling.
02:02Meanwhile, researchers worldwide are looking at ways of optimizing production of the adhesives,
02:08to ensure that they can later be broken back down into their constituent components and then reused.
02:16Safety is paramount with EVs.
02:18Car makers have to meet strict standards and adapt their products accordingly.
02:23Should a battery catch fire, the driver and any passengers have to have five minutes to evacuate the vehicle,
02:29and that requires fixing tapes to have particular properties.
02:36This tape is used to coordinate the pressure.
02:40When high pressure occurs inside the battery, the tape will open automatically.
02:45Once the pressure is on a very high level, the tape opens, because we would like to avoid that the battery explodes.
02:52With more and more electric cars on the roads, adhesives for the auto sector are a rapidly growing market.
02:59For EVs, they're projected to almost double in market volume by 2028 and reach a value of $770 billion.
03:07Adhesives manufacturers like TESA hope that the transition to sustainable transportation pays off for them.
03:16Given the sheer volume of ceiling tapes required for all those electric vehicles,
03:22it could be a highly profitable line of business.
03:25The world currently consumes around 13 million tons of adhesives a year.
03:37A large part of that is for the construction and packaging industries.
03:42The volume for the car sector is significantly lower, but the adhesives used there have a higher price per kilo.
03:52As demand for EVs continues to rise, alongside new technologies,
03:57adhesives are set to play an increasingly important role in the auto industry.