Page 34 - MetalForming February 2022 Special Automotive Issue

Betting on BEVs
What do metal formers and fabricators need to know to best take advantage of the trend toward higher production of battery electric vehicles?
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
In the near term, automotive man- of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), economic value.
where the automotive industry and partners explore the integration of the battery box in a BEV.
Steel and Aluminum Answering the Call
“Automotive-steel stakeholders con- tinue to target mass efficiency, as full integration of a battery pack into a BEV requires protecting it from side and front impacts,” says John Catterall, vice president, American Iron and Steel Institute Automotive Program. “We believe that steel provides the ability to create a safety cage around the bat- tery. We need a safety cage around the battery pack to prevent damage to the pack...and we know what can happen if there is damage.”
Advanced aluminum alloys repre- sent the second-most-used material in the auto industry and the fastest- growing material in the design of new cars and trucks, according to Drive Alu- minum. As with their steel counter- parts, aluminum providers partner with automotive stakeholders to develop holistic technology packages to achieve vehicle engineering objectives, and develop and deploy higher-strength alloys and closed-loop recycling tech- nologies designed to add significant
ufacturing and sales forecasts
revolve around supply-chain issues and the still lingering pandemic. Num- bers are fluid as the industry sorts out how to best meet end-user vehicle demands in 2022 and 2023. But what hasn’t changed: the expected increase in demand for electric vehicles (EVs) through 2025 and beyond. We’re seeing signs of a jump in production already. For example, the third quarter of 2021 saw sales of 82,000 more zero-emission vehicles than in 3Q 2020, according to the Industry Alliance for Automotive Innovation. The trend should continue, as a CNBC report estimates EV market share to climb to as high as 8 percent by 2025. And, EV sales surpassed 11 million units in 2021 whereas EVs only accounted for less than 100,000 unit sales a decade ago, according to the International Energy Agency, which forecasts sales of 100 million EV units by 2030. For more detailed numbers, see Automotive Industry Overview: Challenges Loom for 2022, an article by Brad Kuvin, MetalForming editorial director, beginning on p. 12 in this issue.
Reaching such heady numbers most assuredly challenges those responsible for supply of components for zero- emission vehicles. Consider the subset
New-generation steels and alu- minum alloys can help provide pro- tection while meeting lightweighting goals needed to keep battery power sufficient and efficient.
Of course, metal formers and fab- ricators serve on the front lines in shap- ing these light but tough materials into all manner of parts. Beyond battery cages, other BEV opportunities include rear underbody components, motor housings, gear boxes and main trans- mission parts, engine cradles and cross members, dashboard components, flooring, fender aprons, and the rear axle housing.
To help part suppliers meet automak- er needs, resources are available.
For example, on the steel side, ver- sion 7 of the AHSS (advanced high- strength steel) Application Guide- lines—free for public use as a mobile-friendly online database at www.ahssinsights.org—was released in 2021 and allows users to browse and search to quickly find specific infor- mation of interest. The website includes some 150 articles with 1000 citations, with many linking back to the original sources. The AHSS Appli- cations Guidelines presents an overview of 15 types of sheet-steel
32 MetalForming/February 2022
www.metalformingmagazine.com