Steel solutions for economical and safe e-mobility
With cost-efficient lightweighting solutions for the vehicle structure, robust and safe battery housings and electrical steel for efficient electric motors, thyssenkrupp Steel is demonstrating the enormous potential of innovative steel solutions for electric vehicles. The way we build cars is changing. The electric car 2.0 doesn’t simply replace a conventional engine with a battery and electric motor. It calls for a design that meets new requirements and at the same time offers new possibilities.
Engineers, designers, technicians and material suppliers are having to rethink. The packaging, body construction and chassis of battery-electric vehicles are fundamentally different from conventional designs. The elimination of internal combustion engine, transmission, tank and exhaust system allows greater design freedom and requires changes, for example, to the energy-absorbing zones in the front end. At the same time, the high weight of the battery generates additional loads in all crash load cases.
Cost-efficient lightweighting solutions are needed to drive forward the mobility revolution. Robust and safe battery housings must ensure that electric cars at least match the safety standards of conventional vehicles. And with more efficient electric motors, the stored energy must be converted into greater range
thyssenkrupp Steel has a high level of expertise in all aspects of electric mobility. Steel is crucial to the mobility revolution. It’s indispensable in generators and electric motors. And it’s the number one choice for body construction, battery housings and chassis solutions.
“selectrify®” is the name under which thyssenkrupp Steel has combined its e-mobility activities and a synonym for the enormous potential of innovative steel solutions for electric vehicles.
Cost efficiency
With the same crash safety performance and approximately the same weight, the steel design is up to 50% cheaper to make than aluminum solutions. Perfect for high-volume production.
Find out moreSustainability
When it comes to the life-cycle environmental impact of electric vehicles compared with internal combustion engine vehicles, the hotspots shift from the use phase to the production phase. Life cycle assessments show that steel is the most sustainable material for battery housings.
Find out moreFire protection
Battery housing fire protection is a key criterion for the safety of electric vehicles. The housing must protect passengers in the event of a fire because battery fires cannot be extinguished. In the event of a fire, a battery housing made of steel provides vital minutes for passengers and others involved in an accident.
Find out moreSafety
High-strength steels can be used to make very slim and thin-walled crash structures, saving packaging space and freeing up room for large batteries.
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