DP Patterning, Avery Dennison and IUMAT (Institute for Materials Research from Hasselt University and imec) have built a flexible heater demonstrator for car interiors. It shows how heated surfaces can be made in series volumes, in Europe, at low cost, replacing printed silver and chemical etching as the production process. The demonstrator will be shown for the first time at TechBlick Europe in Berlin on 21 and 22 October, and then at IZB in Wolfsburg on 27 to 29 October.
In an electric car, every kilowatt hour used for cabin comfort is taken from the driving range. Warming the surfaces that passengers sit against and touch, such as door panels and armrests, is a more direct way to keep people comfortable than heating all the air in the cabin. In a field test with an electric delivery van, Ford found that heated interior surfaces cut energy consumption by 13% compared with conventional air heating.
Dry Phase Patterning
The heater circuit in the demonstrator is made with Dry Phase Patterning, DP Patterning’s patented dry and mechanical roll-to-roll process for flex laminates based on aluminium and on copper clad aluminium, which allows soldering. The patterned metal conducts better than printed silver and costs significantly less. Because the process is tightly controlled, each heater delivers consistent heating performance within narrow resistance tolerances. For a car maker, that means the heater in a series-built car behaves like the one that was validated.
Avery Dennison Performance Tapes contributes the bonding. The heater is mounted with FT 21502, a transfer tape built on Avery Dennison’s solvent-free adhesive platform. It uses a patented UV-cured modified acrylic that holds well on curved surfaces, which is where interior heaters have to sit. Compared with traditional solvent-based acrylics, the platform cuts CO2 emissions in production by 19 to 30% and eliminates VOCs, without giving up shear strength, chemical resistance or temperature range. The connection between the wires and the heater circuit is protected with FT 0927, a cable cover tape that has long been the industry standard for seat and steering wheel heaters.
IUMAT designed the heater circuits based upon first-order simulation and calculations. After production of the heater circuit by DP Patterning, IUMAT laser cut the heaters to size, assembled the electronics and integrated them into the demonstrator applying the bonding strategy from Avery Dennison.
European supply at series volume
DP Patterning produces the circuits roll to roll at its plant in Norrköping, giving automotive suppliers a European source of heater circuits at industrial volume. The process uses no etching chemistry and reduces CO2 emissions by up to 98%.
“Heated surfaces are moving from a premium option to a practical way of saving range in everyday electric cars. The question we hear from suppliers is no longer whether it works, but whether they can buy it in volume, from Europe, at a price that fits a vehicle programme. With this demonstrator, developed together with Avery Dennison and Hasselt University, we want to showcase the possibilities of our combined technologies and invite the automotive industry to explore how we can address their specific needs and challenges together,” says Tommy Höglund, Global Sales Director at DP Patterning.
“Making Possible: Conquer the Curve. Hold the Edge. Drive the Future,” says Jarne Machiels, Senior Application and Technical Service Engineer, Avery Dennison Performance Tapes.
See the demonstrator live
TechBlick Europe, Berlin, 21 to 22 October 2026, DP Patterning – stand F08
IZB, Wolfsburg, 27 to 29 October 2026 – Hall 2, stand 2202
Electronica, München, 10-13 November – Hall A1, stand 403