Transforming automotive interior visions into reality

Moving from ”what if” to what’s possible now: Interior solutions with high Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)

Slim design … touchscreens … ambient lighting effects … real materials … these are a few of the overall trends driving automotive interiors.

Using real materials, it’s possible for a vehicle to have a living room atmosphere. But what if the interior parts could also be backlit and touch-sensitive?

Sure, ambient lighting is cool, but what if you didn’t need it on all of the time, especially during the day? And what if warning lights were hidden until the moment you needed them?

Space-saving and functional integration can help to simplify complex parts. So, what if a material could combine structural, aesthetic and lightweight properties?

What if a surface that is used to keep heat out in warm weather could also warm the car during the winter months?

To all of these “what if” questions, there is a simple answer. Yes—it’s what’s possible … now! And only Covestro shows you how.

Center consoles reimagined for electric vehicles

The interiors of electric vehicles (EVs) can be more open and spacious, as we show in our visionary virtual center console.

You’ll find injection molded parts that look and feel like wood, stone or other materials. These parts could be backlit and transparent. Imagine buttons for functions integrated and hidden in the “stone,” “wood” or another surface until they are needed.

But you don’t have to imagine.

Our Makrolon® Ai polycarbonate is a special edge lit material that can go from transparent to translucent. This versatile material gives designers many options for ambient and dynamic auto interior lighting.

Pairing this material solution with our Maezio® lightweight composite in our flying center console results in slim, sleek and stylish components that invite passengers to sit back and enjoy the ride!

Functional integration through backmolding of real material

Functional integration of light, sensors and switches opens the door to distinctive and disruptive design possibilities.

Covestro has developed a new material that is dimensionally stable, transparent and heat resistant: Makroblend® OM 845G polycarbonate glass fiber filled blend. This material—the first  transparent blend in our optical lighting portfolio to offer these properties—can be back molded and back lit in textured,  3D shapes. The possibilities are only limited by a designer’s imagination!

Soft-touch coatings create surprising textures

Covestro offers a versatile toolbox of hard to flexible two-component (2K) waterborne polyurethane dispersions that offer the combination of high design freedom (from soft to hard).

And, by combining this 2K polyurethane technology with edge-lit and high-tech Makrolon® Ai materials, it’s possible to create a wide range of tantalizing textures that meet the expectations of consumers today and tomorrow.

Distinct doors and dashboards with INSQIN® technology

On the door and dashboard you can find the our translucent coated textile, INSQIN®. Lightweight yet very durable, this technology offers full freedom of design. For instance, lighting can appear in novel ways that create a warm and inviting interior.

Strong yet light seat back

Covestro, in collaboration with industry leaders, has designed a seat back that is strong, yet saves space and reduces weight—and does not compromise safety.

The seat back is formed from our Maezio® lightweight composite and features the latest design trend—marble flakes—produced from post-industrial recycling materials.

The seat back, produced using a pilot production process, was assembled on real seats and has passed many OEM-specific tests.

Roll-up shade designed with EVs in mind

Our roll-up shade concept illustrates how lighting and heating can be integrated into an extremely thin and flexible shade.

Beyond LED lighting, the shade’s embedded circuitry would provide radiant heating, which is particularly important in electric vehicles (EVs), which lack the heat from an internal combustion engine.

Smart surfaces will bring comfort to the interior while at the same time answering designer’s needs for materials that meet design and performance requirements.

Join us as the interior evolution continues!

Our interior mockup is full of trend-setting designs, materials and technologies. But there are so many more!

Visit us at K 2022 so you can see for yourself our digital tools for virtual photorealistic CMF designs and renderings.