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Sustainable MobilityScience™

How do we drive circularity and low-carbon mobility?

Learn how Dow MobilityScience™ enables sustainable mobility solutions to enable circularity and improve energy efficiency for a low-carbon future.

Graphic for Materials Science lifecycle with design, production, use and end-of-life stages

Sustainable solutions throughout the vehicle lifecycle

To drive sustainability that supports resilient, low-carbon mobility, we believe every automotive company, vehicle brand, and individual has a unique responsibility. At Dow, that means accelerating our commitment to sustainability: climate protection, engineering safer materials, and enabling circularity.

To emerge as winners in the race to sustainable, lower-carbon mobility, OEMs are acting across the entire lifecycle of a vehicle. Materials science and collaboration are powerful assets in navigating this transition. That’s why MobilityScience™ was created – to provide a single point of expertise in materials science that covers the full spectrum of the sustainable mobility challenge while helping to enable the next generation of electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous vehicles (AV).

Explore each lifecycle phase using the tabs:

Sustainable by design

Our design principle is to use the least materials possible to achieve the highest performance possible. Collaborating with customers early in the design phase enables Dow MobilityScience™ experts to recommend and create tailored, lab-tested material solutions that unlock efficiencies in each phase of the vehicle’s life.

Optimal chemistry and material specifications – thoroughly tested in our labs – deliver a wide range of performance benefits to OEMs seeking to maximize sustainability in their designs.

EV charging station for electric car in concept of alternative green energy produced from sustainable resources to supply to charger station in order to reduce CO2 emission .

Circularity: the key to low-carbon mobility

EVs play an essential role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions but the transition is complex. We also need to accelerate circularity strategies to ensure the proper disassembly and recycling of existing vehicles, enabling more sustainable vehicle end-of-use.


Prioritizing circularity will help the industry be at the forefront of the crucial sustainability track of the EV movement, accelerating the reduction of environmental impact beyond tailpipe emissions.

“It starts with the carbon footprint of a car. OEMs focus on carbon emissions during manufacture and use. As a material science leader, Dow can help enable not just EV production but also reduce the embedded carbon used to make those materials.”
Jon Penrice, President of Dow Mobility
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The urgency of smaller carbon footprints and more efficient operations

Due to its significant greenhouse gas (GHG) impact, the global manufacturing sector bears a unique responsibility for pioneering progress in environmental stewardship. That’s why Dow helps customers reach their Scope 1 objectives with solutions that help to enable greater production efficiency and the use of fewer materials. We also help them achieve Scope 3 objectives using material options with a lower carbon footprint. Dow has doubled down on our own sustainability commitments, making significant investments in renewable energy to achieve our own Scope 2 goals. We understand the urgency and importance of this work to all our mobility sector partners and customers.

Every day, Dow’s MobilityScience™ team is helping customers reduce their carbon-intensive processes and enable the carbon-saving power of remanufacturing through optimal design and material selection.

Applying product to a microchip, close-up.

Achieve quick curing at room temperature, even in high-volume assembly

New UV dual cure conformal coatings technology for automated spray processing saves energy, improves throughput, and provides a greener workplace.

Rubber solutions that help OEMs reduce Scope 3 emissions

NORDEL™ EDPM for rubber production means performance with less environmental impact. Our molecular catalyst technology lowers CO2 emissions by up to 39% (vs. the incumbent catalyst technology) and reduces cumulative energy demand.

Your partner in sustainability

Every day, Dow’s MobilityScience™ team helps customers reduce their carbon-intensive processes and enable the carbon-saving power of remanufacturing through optimal design and material selection.

Production line of automobile plant, paint shop, conveyor. Finished product

Sustainable manufacturing with production efficiency

How does 90% less energy use during combustion and electric vehicle assembly sound? Advanced adhesives provide process savings through rapid cure at lower temperatures.

EV charging station for electric car in concept of alternative green energy produced from sustainable resources to supply to charger station in order to reduce CO2 emission.

Enhanced process efficiency for electrical connectors

What about reducing the temperature needed for curing electrical connector seals? Recent materials innovations make it possible while also helping to improve safety, increase design freedom and enhance process efficiency.

Consistent sustainable performance

Everyday vehicle use is far and away the most carbon-intensive aspect of the mobility lifecycle, which is why OEMs are fundamentally shifting their focus to alternative solutions like electric or hydrogen mobility. Whether you’re prioritizing electric or improving fuel efficiency, Dow helps deliver everyday sustainability performance to OEMs for vehicles in countless ways.

EV Electric car silhouette with low battery charging at electric charge station. 3d render and illustration.

Batteries enable zero-emission mobility

Batteries are more sophisticated than ever. The way that OEMs have integrated them into platforms to form the basis of EVs shows their versatility and power density. Dow offers more suitable materials compositions to make them more sustainable.


“We’re focusing a lot on the assembly materials for batteries. The battery is a key component of that – the new lifeblood of the vehicle,” says John McKeen, Technology Director at Dow MobilityScience™.

Jaguar I-TYPE 6 on race track

Accelerating innovation for EVs

In this Q&A, Tim Boven, Hydrocarbons Global Asset Director, discusses Dow’s role in the Formula E racing series and the wider EV sector during the London E-Prix.

What are your biggest use-phase sustainability challenges?

Explore the materials unlocking new levels of efficiency during the tens of millions of vehicle trips taken every single day. Together, we can reduce emissions associated with the use phase - by transitioning to EV, implementing better emission control technology and more.

CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), quality = 95 A black sportscar traveling down a road. / 123rf Image #12878715

Revolutionizing lighting

Drivers demand brighter, more energy-efficient and longer-lasting lighting systems. Our moldable optical innovations reduce the weight of auto interior and exterior LED lighting components by replacing glass or thermoplastics.

Transport, modern, green energy, technology and people concept - male hand using car eco system mode.

Efficiency with insulation

Lightweight insulation materials reduce energy through more efficient vehicle heating and air conditioning and promote circularity through the innovative use of feedstocks sourced from automotive industry waste.

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Battery systems for better EVs

Low-density, high-performance thermally conductive gap fillers help extend the life and performance of EVs by dissipating heat from EV battery and control unit modules. Additionally, Dow’s structural foam enables new battery pack designs that save weight and cost without compromising safety.

Empty cockpit of autonomous car, HUD(Head Up Display) and digital speedometer. autonomous car. driverless car. self-driving vehicle.

Sustainable automotive bodies and panels

Did you know that replacing metal with thermoplastic polyolefins in panels reduces weight by 25% (and manufacturing costs by up to 8%), helping to reduce emissions?

The circular journey to a sustainable future

The mobility sector accounts for around 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. We urgently need to manage materials wisely and efficiently throughout our supply chains and production cycles.

At Dow, we’re engineering materials solutions for sustainable disassembly and exploring new technologies to create parts that can be reused, repaired, or recycled.

The way forward isn’t a straight path; it’s circular. Our MobilityScience™ team is committed to working alongside customers and partners to unlock the full potential of materials science for a circular economy approach and navigate increasingly stringent government regulations around emissions and waste management.

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Recycling and reuse of silicone material

Dow has been reprocessing and recycling actives since 2005, converting siloxane-rich byproducts back to a fluid state. The next step toward post-industrial and post-consumer recycling of silicones is the development of thermal treatment technology, where evaluation testing is currently ongoing.

Dow has also initiated the exploration of mechanical silicone recycling with the goal of creating a final material with an equal or lower carbon footprint and lower capital intensity than virgin siloxane production. This has become a reality for brand-new recyclable, silicone-based self- sealing tire solutions created in partnership with Bridgestone.

Rear side view of black car in turn with heavy blurred motion.

All vehicles have one thing in common – tires. See how Dow helps keep wheels turning.

EV charging station for electric car in concept of alternative green energy produced from sustainable resources to supply to charger station in order to reduce CO2 emission .

Creating a low-carbon future for mobility

At the Sustainable Mobility Summit, Dow sparked discussion on the importance of partnering to address sustainability challenges, invest in the right solutions and adopt better policies.

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