Delphi’s Halogen-Free Cable Debuts on 2007 Toyota Tundra

Enabled by GE Plastics Flexible Noryl™ Resin, Delphi’s New Cable is smaller, lighter, recyclable and, according to both companies, one of the most significant innovations in automotive cable in many years.
TROY, Mich. — Delphi Corporation’s (PINKSHEETS: DPHIQ) new ultra-thin wall cable, touted for its halogen-free requirements, superior performance, durability, smaller size and recyclability, makes its worldwide debut on the 2007 Toyota Tundra, delivered to dealer showrooms in February.

Delphi’s thin wall and ultra-thin wall cable not only meets halogen-free requirements and has the potential to be recyclable, but the superior physical properties of the insulation allow for size and weight benefits without compromising durability.

This new cable also marks the first application of GE Plastics’ Flexible Noryl resins in the automotive industry and, according to both Delphi and GE, is one of the most significant automotive wire insulation breakthroughs in many years. It delivers superior performance and durability in a smaller and lighter package. Further, the material composite offers potential for the cable to be recycled at end-of-life.

Flexible Noryl™ resin, a new insulating material GE Plastics developed in collaboration with Delphi helps create many of these benefits. Using the resin, the two companies developed a cable that meets Toyota’s specifications, said Stefaan Vandevelde, global product business unit director, Delphi Electrical/Electronic Distribution Systems.

“Toyota, an industry leader in environmentally progressive vehicles, wanted an environmentally responsible replacement for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable,” said Doug Gruber, product business unit director, Delphi Electrical/Electronics Distribution Systems North America. “Delphi believes that this new cable not only meets Toyota’s environmental requirements, but in our evaluation exceeds the durability performance of other recyclable halogen-free cables on the market today.”

The insulation on Delphi’s new ultra-thin wall cable is half as thick as conventional coatings in North America — 0.2 mm versus 0.4 mm — or about as thick as two sheets of paper, reducing wire/resin weight by up to 25 percent and wire diameter an average 28 percent. This, in turn, helps reduce the size of the wire bundle by as much as 40 percent. These reductions in weight and mass improve fuel efficiency and vehicle performance, enabling the original equipment manufacturer to fit more content into the same space. Delphi’s thin wall and ultra-thin wall cables also meet chlorine- and lead-free parts requirements, and have twice the pinch resistance and four times the scrape abrasion resistance as PVC cable with equal insulation thickness.

“Our combined efforts with GE Plastics allowed Delphi to meet our customer’s expectations,” Gruber said. “GE worked hand-in-hand with our team to help find the right formulation to ensure all of our requirements were met. GE’s product engineers have been very responsive in helping us provide new technology to our customer that further differentiates Delphi from other suppliers.”

“Today’s consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of their purchasing decisions,” said Greg Adams, vice president, Automotive, GE Plastics. “While this revolutionary solution may not be visible to the eye of the everyday consumer, it is a significant breakthrough. Toyota’s acceptance of this technology is important to the industry.”

Delphi’s halogen-free thin wall and ultra-thin wall cable was selected as an example of the positive benefits of GE ecomagination strategy when it was introduced. Ecomagination is an initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that help customers meet pressing environmental challenges. True to the spirit of ecomagination, Delphi’s halogen-free cable does not just provide an economically responsible cable, it provides a smaller, lighter, more durable cable that enables automotive manufacturers to add more features in less space while improving fuel economy.