E-Weekly
Sep 15th, 2008                                Print this article

Automotive: Delphi eschews PVC, XLPE for lighter, “greener” automotive cables

By Tony Deligio

Turning away from conventional cable materials like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE), Delphi (Troy, MI) has created what it calls a lightweight, durable cable that allows less resin to be used while achieving halogen-free flame retardance. Delphi says the Ultra-Thin-Wall cable—measuring .2 mm thick vs. .4—exceeds SAE and ISO test standards for abrasion. The ability to thinwall reduces product weight by 27%, while lower the volume of resin used by 47%.

In a release, Stefaan Vandevelde, product business unit director, Delphi Electrical/Electronic Distribution Systems, said that the cable “brings weight and size reductions to the wiring harness at a time when space constraints are forcing automakers to find unique ways to package an ever-increasing amount of vehicle content.” The cable debuted on the 2007 Toyota Tundra and is now under production for multiple vehicles from three major automakers at a rate of 1.5 billion ft/yr.

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