Electric Vehicles and OEMs

Electric vehicles (EVs) – light is right for OEMs

Using a lighter chassis and engine parts impacts multiple value drivers in the automotive industry; fuel consumption, production costs, and emissions (e.g. CO?). Lightweight construction is therefore critical for car manufacturers and offers potential opportunities for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) as suppliers to their industry. In short, every gram saved counts and for OEM suppliers to gain competitive advantage they need to invest in technical and environmental innovation.

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to cars is balancing weight, fuel and power. This is especially so for electric vehicles, as battery cells add a lot of extra weight. The heavier the car, the more battery cells it needs, increasing the weight of the car. In designing EVs, the lighter the car, the greater the distance a car can go on electric power alone – a deciding factor for many consumers.

Car bodies are usually made of steel; strong and durable, but also heavy making it tough for electric powered vehicles to have optimum range. Plastic and fibreglass parts such as bumpers bring weight down, as do aluminium roofs, but a steel unibody is still a big part of a vehicle’s weight.

And the task of manufacturing lightweight materials has not become any simpler for supplier companies over time. Modern car bodies are already much lighter than in the past and engines are highly complex, such that the research and innovation needed to shave off just a kilogram has become ever more difficult.

As the world gradually weans itself off combustion engine vehicles, those suppliers which have the technical know-how to service the EV market are likely to prosper. Several manufactures are developing strategies to produce advanced materials and engine parts, among them, for example, ThyssenKrupp (TK) ArcelorMittal (AM) and Johnson Matthey (JM).

TK has launched dual-phase steel such that a body shell can be made at a thickness of only 0.55 millimetres (including a hot-dip galvanized or zinc-magnesium protective layer – anti-corrosion properties are obviously still important). TK is manufacturing lightweight engine components too. ?AM has a range of electrical steels for e-mobility while Johnson Matthey is building an ￡80m hydrogen fuel cell component gigafactory, and investing in the lithium battery life cycle, from manufacture to recycling.

While leading EV brands such as Tesla grab the headlines in the auto sector, the OEM industry is the enabling force behind the EV transition and many of the leading firms within it are now promoting their sustainable product strategies to their investors as a differentiator.

Article by Andy White on behalf of #InterAxSGlobal