According to Alfred Beltran, Head of Business Development for the Automotive Market at Eurecat, the automotive industry “is immersed in digital transformation and is also integrating new, innovative solutions based on new materials and processes that result in more personalized, versatile, and energy-efficient products and designs.”
Along these lines, the technology center is innovating to obtain functional fabrics for automotive interiors “using specific additives that allow the production of yarns with a specific response to the effects of light or temperature, making them glow or change color,” explains Virginia Garcia, Director of Eurecat’s Functional Fabrics Unit, as well as electroluminescent textiles using printed light.

Furthermore, Eurecat is showcasing the innovative Confort-TEX project, which focuses on the development and incorporation of shape-memory polymer filaments into textile structures. The project was undertaken to optimize and characterize these new fabrics, increasing their elasticity and adaptability without compromising breathability.

An ultra-thin smart interface for the next generation of cars.
To incorporate functionalities into materials, Eurecat is presenting the Pulsar project, within which it has developed a smart plastic surface just 3 millimeters thick. This surface features an interface that allows users to communicate with a machine, software, or an intuitive system. It includes built-in LED lighting and capacitive sensors, and is expected to be integrated into the central electronic system of the next generation of cars.
The innovation was developed at Eurecat's plastronics pilot plant, which specializes in functional printing and integrated devices. This allows for the "integration of low-cost, high-performance printed electronics within structural plastic parts," adds Paul Lacharmoise, Director of Eurecat's Functional Printing and Integrated Devices Unit.

This year's Automotive Interiors Expo Europe features a session moderated by Paul Lacharmoise and a presentation by Eduard Almar, a researcher from Eurecat's Polymer and Composite Processes Unit, on "Evaluation of the Thermoforming Stretch of Functional Inserts for Injection Molding Electronics." Enric Fontdecaba, Director of Eurecat's Polymer and Composite Processes Unit, will also participate with a presentation on "Plastronics: The Revolution of Smart Plastics for Automotive Interiors."