In response to the need save energy (reduce electricity consumption) as electric vehicles come into wider use, Toyoda Gosei is developing interior products that provide personal climate control to locally cool and heat the area around vehicle occupants’ bodies. The company’s knowledge of plastic materials is utilized to ensure that the newly developed armrests are still smooth and comfortable to the touch. A structural design for minimal thermal energy loss also helps to achieve the same heating performance as other companies’ products while cutting the power consumption by half. This will be the first time that armrests equipped with a heater function are used in a car by a Japanese manufacturer. *
The interior of this vehicle also features the Toyoda Gosei’s LED floor graphic lighting, which decorates the interior of the vehicle with patterns using LED light and shadow, contributing to a luxurious and comfortable mobile space.
Toyoda Gosei will continue to develop high value-added products leveraging its core rubber and plastic technologies to contribute to improved cabin comfort.
Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. has launched a front grille produced using newly developed hot-stamping technology. * This grille is used on the new model LEXUS LM from Toyota Motor.
With improvement of the foil that is transferred to the grille, this new technology eliminates the need for the top coat to prevent deterioration from weathering and ultraviolet rays. The company has leveraged its knowledge of plastic materials to produce the protective layer of the foil using a highly weather-resistant plastic and makes the layer thicker to achieve the same durability as previous products. Getting rid of the top coat application process reduces CO2 emissions during production by 20% and helps to conserve resources.
Toyoda Gosei will continue to reduce the environmental impact of its products and processes to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, while also developing decorative technologies that meet customer needs for a wide variety of products for different grades of vehicles.
*Hot-stamping technology imparts a metallic texture to a product by transferring foil onto it with heat, enabling spot decoration of protrusions and other areas with small surface areas.