Since the motor of electric and hybrid vehicles is operated with up to 600 V or soon 1000 V AC, color coding of the corresponding components makes sense and the industry has agreed on using the warning color “high-voltage orange” according RAL2003 in hybrid - and electric cars for this reason.

While a RAL2003 color can be adjusted quite easily in "simple" compounds, the situation changes with more complex material systems. If high filler levels, flame retardants, stabilizers or impact modifiers are required, adjusting the "high voltage orange" color is a challenge. Interaction with certain additives or simply the over-coloring of the filler component require a wide know-how in the field of coloring. Also critical is the stability against heat aging, because especially in the drivetrain environment increased temperatures prevail due to higher energy density.

For housings, connectors and plugs, Bada has developed the PA66-based, UL-listed Compound Badamid UL A703 GF30 FR HF orange, whereby the glass fiber content can be varied in the range of 20-35%.

For the same applications but higher service temperatures, Bada offers solutions based on high temperature polyamides, e.g. PPA-HT GF30 FR HF orange. This compound is also additionally flame retardant according to UL94-V0.

If a better conduction of heat is required from the components, for example for housings, the PA6-type Badamid B70 TC S2 is available in orange, with a thermal conductivity of about 1.2 W / m * K.

For rigid cable ducts with snap-in hooks on the device, the tough-modified Badamid B70 GF15 TM-Z2 orange was developed, with a good compromise on stiffness and flexibility.

A unique material on the market to Bada´s knowledge is the UL-listed, flame-retardant thermoplastic elastomer Badaflex UL TPE-S (x) A FR01 orange, available in a hardness range x of 40-90 Shore A. Due to the wide hardness range many applications such as gaskets and cable passages, but also semi-rigid components such as plugs can be realized.

For further customer-specific developments the Bada team of application technology and market development is available at any time - challenge us!

In summer 2019, Bada Hispanaplast expanded its facilities by adding a new laboratory room at its Huesca plant. This laboratory is mainly focused on tests in which there are volatile elements or fumes, such as the analysis of fire-retardant materials, whose demand has been increased in recent years. For this, the laboratory has:

- Extractable test to determine the amount of plasticizer (according to internal methodology)
- Calcination test according to UNE-EN ISO 3451 using a muffle
- Glow wire test, both GWFI and GWIT, according to DIN EN 60695-2-12
- Flammability test according to UL-94 (UNE-EN 60695-11-10)

For this last test, the novelty is the incorporation of a semi-automatic combustion chamber for flammability tests, according to UL94 standards, to avoid the minimum human interference in the measurement process, avoiding human errors, deviations and thus increasing reliability and repeatability in accordance with current regulations.