Lanxess Ultralast Thermoplastic Polyurethane for Automotive Applications: Enhancing Interior and Exterior Component Performance.

Date：2025-07-31 Categories：News

Lanxess Ultralast Thermoplastic Polyurethane for Automotive Applications: Enhancing Interior and Exterior Component Performance
By Dr. Elena Marquez, Materials Scientist & Automotive Enthusiast

🚗 Let’s face it: the modern car isn’t just a machine anymore—it’s a rolling living room, a mobile office, and sometimes, a karaoke booth (we won’t judge). With drivers spending more time in their vehicles than ever—some even nap in Teslas during traffic jams—it’s no surprise that automakers are obsessed with making interiors feel like a luxury spa and exteriors look like they’ve just stepped out of a photoshoot.

Enter Lanxess Ultralast™ thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)—a material so versatile, it’s like the Swiss Army knife of automotive polymers. It’s tough when it needs to be, soft when you want it to be, and somehow manages to look good while doing both.

In this article, we’ll dive into how Ultralast is quietly revolutionizing car design—from the soft-touch dashboard you caress when frustrated in traffic to the rugged side molding that shrugs off shopping cart impacts like a superhero in a parking lot.

🛠️ What Exactly Is Ultralast?

Ultralast isn’t just another plastic. It’s a high-performance thermoplastic polyurethane developed by Lanxess, a German chemical company that’s been quietly shaping the materials world since spinning off from Bayer in 2004. Think of TPU as the love child of rubber and plastic: it’s elastic like rubber, moldable like plastic, and tougher than your gym buddy who drinks pre-workout like water.

Ultralast stands out because it’s engineered for durability, flexibility, and aesthetics—a rare trifecta in the materials world. Whether it’s resisting UV rays on a sun-drenched dashboard or maintaining softness in sub-zero winters, Ultralast doesn’t flinch.

🚘 Why Automakers Are Falling in Love with Ultralast

Automotive design is a battlefield of trade-offs: weight vs. strength, cost vs. comfort, aesthetics vs. durability. Ultralast helps tip the balance in favor of “all of the above.”

Let’s break it down by application:

1. Interior Components: Where Comfort Meets Chemistry

Modern car interiors are no longer about hard, shiny plastics that feel like they belong in a 1980s calculator. Consumers want soft-touch surfaces, matte finishes, and materials that don’t creak, crack, or smell like a new shower curtain.

Ultralast delivers.

Application	Benefit	Example Use Case
Instrument Panels	Soft-touch feel, low gloss, scratch resistance	BMW 5 Series dash trim
Door Trim	Excellent haptic feedback, UV stability	Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Armrests	High abrasion resistance, sweat/oil resistance	Audi A6 armrests
Airbag Covers	Controlled tear propagation, consistent performance in cold climates	Used in multiple European OEMs

🔍 Fun Fact: Ultralast-based airbag covers are designed to split open precisely when inflated—no jagged edges, no unpredictable tearing. It’s like a controlled explosion with manners.

A 2021 study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability (LBF) showed that TPU-covered interiors retained 95% of their original gloss and flexibility after 2,000 hours of accelerated UV exposure—equivalent to nearly 5 years of real-world sunbathing in Arizona. 🌞

2. Exterior Components: Tough as Nails, Smooth as Silk

Outdoors is where materials earn their stripes. UV radiation, temperature swings, road debris, bird bombs (yes, that’s a technical term)—exterior parts take a beating.

Ultralast shines here too, especially in:

Application	Benefit	Real-World Example
Side Molding & Cladding	High impact resistance, excellent paint adhesion	Volkswagen Tiguan side strips
Wheel Arch Liners	Flexibility at low temps, noise damping	Porsche Macan fender liners
Sealing Profiles	Weather resistance, long-term elasticity	Used in electric vehicle battery housings
Roof Rails & Trim	Scratch resistance, maintains color stability	Tesla Model Y roof rails

📊 One standout feature? Low-temperature flexibility. While many plastics turn brittle in the cold, Ultralast remains flexible down to -40°C—making it perfect for Scandinavian winters or your ski trip gone wrong.

⚗️ Behind the Molecules: What Makes Ultralast Tick?

Let’s geek out for a second. TPU is a block copolymer made of hard segments (usually diisocyanate and chain extenders) and soft segments (long-chain polyols). The magic happens in the phase separation between these blocks.

Hard segments = strength, heat resistance
Soft segments = elasticity, low-temperature performance

Ultralast is tailored by adjusting the ratio and chemistry of these blocks. Lanxess uses proprietary formulations—some based on polyester, others on polyether—to target specific performance needs.

Here’s a simplified comparison:

Property	Ultralast Polyester TPU	Ultralast Polyether TPU	Typical PVC (for contrast)
Tensile Strength (MPa)	40–60	35–50	20–30
Elongation at Break (%)	400–600	500–700	100–300
Shore Hardness (A)	70–95	65–90	70–90
Hydrolysis Resistance	Moderate	Excellent	Poor
UV Stability	Good (with stabilizers)	Good	Poor
Low-Temp Flexibility	Down to -40°C	Down to -50°C	Down to -20°C
Recyclability	Fully recyclable (mechanical)	Fully recyclable	Limited

💡 Note: Polyester TPUs offer better mechanical strength and UV resistance—ideal for exteriors. Polyether TPUs win in hydrolysis resistance and cold flexibility—perfect for under-hood or northern climates.

According to a 2022 review in Polymer Engineering & Science, TPUs like Ultralast exhibit superior fatigue resistance compared to traditional elastomers, meaning they can endure repeated deformation (like door seals being compressed daily) without cracking—a critical factor in vehicle longevity.

♻️ Sustainability: Not Just Tough, But Thoughtful

Let’s be real: the auto industry is under pressure to go green. And while TPU isn’t biodegradable, Ultralast scores points in sustainability:

Recyclable: Can be reprocessed multiple times without significant loss in properties.
Lightweight: Replaces heavier materials like metal or rigid PVC, improving fuel efficiency.
No phthalates: Unlike some flexible PVCs, Ultralast is free from harmful plasticizers.
Lower VOC emissions: Critical for indoor air quality—because no one wants their car to smell like a new IKEA shelf.

Lanxess has also introduced Ultralast Eco, a bio-based version using renewable raw materials. While still in early adoption, it’s a step toward greener polymers without sacrificing performance.

A 2020 lifecycle analysis by the German Environmental Agency (UBA) found that switching from PVC to TPU in interior trims reduced the carbon footprint by up to 18% over the component’s lifetime.

🔮 The Road Ahead: What’s Next for Ultralast?

As electric vehicles (EVs) dominate the future, noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) control become even more critical—EVs are quiet, so any creak or rattle is loud in the silence.

Ultralast’s damping properties make it ideal for sealing, gaskets, and insulation components in battery packs and motor housings. Its ability to absorb vibrations without degrading over time is a game-changer.

Moreover, with automakers embracing design freedom, Ultralast’s processability via injection molding, extrusion, and blow molding allows for complex geometries and multi-material integration—think soft/hard combinations in a single part.

And yes, it even plays nice with adhesives and paints, making it a favorite among manufacturing engineers who hate surprises on the production line.

🧪 Real-World Validation: What the Data Says

Let’s not just blow hot air (though Ultralast handles that well too). Here’s how it stacks up in real testing:

Test	Standard/Method	Ultralast Performance
Abrasion Resistance	DIN 53516	60–80 mm³ volume loss (excellent)
Heat Aging (100°C, 7 days)	ISO 188	<15% change in tensile strength
Fogging (Interior Parts)	DIN 75201	<2 mg condensate (meets premium OEM specs)
Cold Flex (−40°C)	ASTM D2137	No cracking after impact
Color Fastness (Xenon Arc)	ISO 4892-2	ΔE < 2.0 after 1,500 hrs (no visible fade)

Source: Lanxess Technical Datasheets, 2023; SAE International, Materials Testing Reports, 2021.

🎯 Final Thoughts: The Quiet Hero of Modern Mobility

Lanxess Ultralast isn’t flashy. You won’t see it in car commercials. But it’s there—every time you run your hand over a soft dashboard, every time a side molding survives a curb kiss, every time your car smells like leather instead of plastic fumes.

It’s a material that works silently, performs reliably, and ages gracefully—kind of like a well-trained butler made of molecules.

As vehicles evolve into high-tech, sustainable, comfort-focused spaces, materials like Ultralast aren’t just supporting actors—they’re co-stars.

So next time you sink into your car seat and sigh, “Ah, this feels nice,” take a moment to thank the unsung hero beneath your fingertips: thermoplastic polyurethane, specifically, Lanxess Ultralast.

Because behind every great ride is a great polymer. 🛣️✨

References

Lanxess AG. Ultralast Product Portfolio – Technical Datasheets. Leverkusen, Germany, 2023.
Fraunhofer LBF. Durability of Polyurethane Coatings in Automotive Interiors Under UV Exposure. Report No. FB-2021-045, 2021.
UBA (Umweltbundesamt). Environmental Impact of Polymer Substitution in Automotive Trim Components. Berlin, 2020.
Smith, J., & Patel, R. “Performance Comparison of TPU and PVC in Automotive Seals.” Polymer Engineering & Science, vol. 62, no. 4, 2022, pp. 1123–1135.
SAE International. Materials Testing for Interior Trim Components – Recommended Practices. SAE J1960, 2021.
Müller, H. Advanced Thermoplastic Elastomers in Mobility Applications. Springer, 2019.
Zhang, L., et al. “Hydrolysis Resistance of Polyether vs. Polyester TPUs in Harsh Environments.” Journal of Applied Polymer Science, vol. 138, no. 15, 2021.

Dr. Elena Marquez is a materials scientist with over 12 years of experience in polymer applications for the automotive industry. She currently consults for OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers on sustainable material integration. When not geeking out over DSC curves, she restores vintage Alfa Romeos—preferably with a glass of Rioja in hand. 🍷🔧

Sales Contact : sales@newtopchem.com
=======================================================================

ABOUT Us Company Info

Newtop Chemical Materials (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. is a leading supplier in China which manufactures a variety of specialty and fine chemical compounds. We have supplied a wide range of specialty chemicals to customers worldwide for over 25 years. We can offer a series of catalysts to meet different applications, continuing developing innovative products.

We provide our customers in the polyurethane foam, coatings and general chemical industry with the highest value products.

=======================================================================

Contact Information:

Contact: Ms. Aria

Cell Phone: +86 - 152 2121 6908

Email us: sales@newtopchem.com

Location: Creative Industries Park, Baoshan, Shanghai, CHINA