California has already adopted the ban, and now the EU is following suit with a no thanks to chrome plating on cars.
The EU will ban chrome plating on cars.
The phasing out of the material that comes out of the process will already begin this year, following the California model.
That's what Autocar writes.
Specifically, the EU wants to ban the production of any chemical compound that falls under the category of hexavalent chromium.
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The gases released by that kind of chemistry are said to be more than 500 times more toxic than diesel and gasoline and cause lung cancer.
There are methods that can filter the toxic gases. But it is not without problems either, as the filtering itself is linked to the release of the chemical fluorine substances PFAS, which in themselves affect the immune system in humans. However, no evidence has been found that PFAS are carcinogenic.
Although the ban is modeled after the American example in the state of California, the EU intervenes much earlier than the Americans have intended.
In the US's most populous state, chrome plating will only be completely banned in 2039, while the EU is already demanding that the phase-out begin this year.
The idea is that a ban will force the industry to develop and use more environmentally friendly and non-toxic methods. But as a consequence of the phasing out, the production of chrome-plated spare parts for older cars ceases.
Speaking to Autocar, Renault's chief designer Gilles Vidal acknowledges that it is time for the car industry to move away from the use of chrome and chrome plating. At the same time, he says that work is already underway on alternatives.
The ban on hexavalent chromium does not necessarily mean that the chrome look disappears from cars. Because it can be made with other chemicals. But it is, as Magneto Magazine says, a more expensive process.
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