Plastic Omnium - 2020 Universal Registration Document

PRESENTATION OF PLASTIC OMNIUM AND ITS BUSINESSES Research and Development (R&D) PLASTIC OMNIUM UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2020 61 a lighter-weight interactive tailgate (smart tailgate): made from ● high-efficiency composite materials, this next-generation tailgate is about 30% lighter than steel. In addition to being lighter-weight, the Plastic Omnium tailgate integrates numerous aerodynamic and interactive functions. The tailgate can display messages in order to communicate with its environment. Numerous informational messages may be displayed on a transparent area. This area can also display personalized signs if the driver so chooses. Through the solutions developed by the Company, the tailgate interacts in three ways: the “touch and open” and “touch and stop” system works through ● conductive paint, detection of obstacles prevents damage when the trunk is opened. ● The tailgate has improved aerodynamics thanks to an active spoiler ● and a lateral deflector enabling better passage of air along the roof line. The drag coefficient is improved by 3 to 4%, for a reduction in carbon emissions of 1 g/km. Furthermore, a mobile diffusor integrated into the rear bumper extends under the floor, improving the drag coefficient by another 3% and reducing carbon emissions by another 1 g/km; Plastic Omnium and the German automotive supplier HELLA have ● launched an innovative project partnership to develop integrated solutions, combining exterior body parts and lighting. Experts in engineering and design from each group, based in Germany, are working together on the development of new concepts incorporating innovative technologies in lighting and in Intelligent Exterior Systems, for both the front and rear of vehicles. This technological alliance intends to bring to carmakers differentiating solutions in terms of style and functionality for body systems that also assist communications and safety in autonomous cars. In a context of increasingly strict environmental standards, the Group supports carmakers’ emission reduction strategies with: solutions for hybrid engines: Plastic Omnium offers solutions ● specifically adapted to rechargeable hybrid vehicles. INWIN is a fuel system that resists the increase in gasoline vapor pressure when the vehicle is running in electric mode, thanks to its optimized architecture. TANKTRONIC ® offers simplified, innovative architecture, with an innovative electronically controlled E-valve. This system permits optimal function at a low cost; clean diesel with SCR (selective catalytic reduction): the ● implementation of SCR technology into diesel vehicles results in efficient removal of nitrous oxide (NOx), complying with the strictest regulations. This technology consists of spraying AdBlue ® into the exhaust pipe, causing, upon contact with the gases that result from diesel combustion, a chemical reaction that breaks down nitrous oxide emissions into nitrogen and water vapor; finally, Plastic Omnium is designing a system for storing hydrogen under ● pressure. The gas is stored in Type IV bottles (tanks made of composite materials and plastic) designed to resist strong internal force. The bottle is comprised of a 5 mm watertight, thermoplastic liner and a thick carbon fiber structure. It is designed to resist the mechanical stress generated by the vessel’s internal pressure. After several years of R&D, Plastic Omnium developed a technology enabling it to offer vessels compressed at 700 bars. With two vessels holding 60 liters each, the vehicle has a range of 800 km. One of the innovations Plastic Omnium is working on is to supply a vehicle’s electric engine using a fuel cell, which converts the oxygen and hydrogen in the bottles into electrical energy. The advantage of this system is that the only waste products are water and heat. These next-generation fuel cell systems, combined with hydrogen vessels, are much lighter than traditional batteries, despite offering the same range (800 km) and rapid recharging (three minutes). Fuel cells, combined with hydrogen vessels, will enable electrical vehicles to solve their range and charge-time problems as well as the climate conditions that currently limit their development. By accelerating its innovation strategy, in January 2018 the Group created Plastic Omnium New Energies, a subsidiary of Clean Energy Systems, dedicated to the development of future energies, in particular in the area of fuel cell and hydrogen propulsion. Its development has accelerated in recent years with: the acquisition of two companies with a strong technological content in ● December 2017: Swiss Hydrogen, a Swiss company based in Fribourg specializing in the design and production of energy management and control solutions in fuel cell systems (balance of plant), and Optimum CPV, a Belgian company based in Zonhoven specializing in the design and production of composite filament vessels for high-pressure hydrogen storage; obtaining certifications in 2020 for its 200-, 350- and 700-bar vessels; ● the signing of a contract for the development of vessels for buses with ● a German customer, for production at the end of 2021, and a contract to develop and produce the hydrogen storage systems of the Dutch heavy goods vehicle manufacturer VDL, as part of the European project H2HAUL; the establishment, in 2020, of a partnership with Mission H24 in which ● Plastic Omnium becomes the exclusive supplier of the hydrogen storage system for cars competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours from 2024; and the creation, announced in October 2020, with the German ● supplier ElringKlinger, of the joint venture EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies specializing in fuel cell stacks, and the acquisition of the ElringKlinger subsidiary in Austria specializing in integrated hydrogen systems. In the field of modules, the technological expertise of HBPO enables Plastic Omnium to accelerate its growth in smart and modular exteriors, which will profoundly change the design and aesthetics of the cars of the future. The success of this expertise is substantiated by the expansion of HBPO’s business scope, with the assembly of new modules (cockpits, center consoles and DC-DC converters), at the request of our customers. HPBO is also developing new modules, the e-modules, intended for electric vehicles. The all-in-one front-end module, a strategic component of a vehicle, is technically highly complex. Beyond the vital functions it combines – impact beam, aerodynamically controlled flaps, lighting and cooling systems, driving aid radar and sensors – the front-end module is also a key element of a vehicle’s design and identity. Its shape forms part of the vehicle’s signature, while its component equipment plays a direct part in its safety and proper operation. Personalized in the extreme – up to 3,000 possible combinations for the same vehicle – these modules are characterized by their high degree of modularity and their connectivity. Their growing complexity requires complete control of the entire process from their development, logistics, design and assembly. Plastic Omnium is one of few players to have this end-to-end control since acquiring HPBO in 2018, the world leader in front-end modules. In the future, the control of ready-to-assemble will cover all parts of the vehicle: the front as today, the interior with the consoles and cockpits and other modules under study. These are all fields in which Plastic Omnium is already active.