From iron scraps to high-tech products – improvements in steel quality over the past century would not have been possible without thyssenkrupp.
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New: more steel, more natural fibers
The thyssenkrupp blue.cruiser features more steel components than ever. Among others, it contains lightweight elements as part of the body, electrical steel inside the motor, and high-tech components in the chassis. The vehicle’s high level of sustainability results from a life-cycle analysis of the environmental influences exerted by production, service life, and recycling.
Using steel instead of CFRP and aluminum has significantly reduced the vehicle’s greenhouse gas emissions. Alternative materials both on the interior (such as linen and pineapple leather) and the exterior (such as balsa wood and bio resin as laminate substitutes) also help to reduce the thyssenkrupp blue.cruiser’s environmental impact.
Electric motor
The hub motor contains high-quality electrical steel from thyssenkrupp’s Steel segment. A high-strength automotive steel grade forms the basis for this efficient drive technology. The interplay between the electrical steel and the permanent magnets is crucial to this.
Magnets
The innovative magnet technology is supplied by our Materials Services business area. The special layout of the permanent magnets optimizes the magnetic flow, which improves the energy efficiency of the electric motor. A total of 200 individual magnets are installed for each drive unit.
Steel wheels
Unlike its predecessor, the thyssenkrupp SunRiser, the blue.cruiser features wheels made from dual-phase steel rather than aluminum. However, the weight level is the same. The active section of the electric drive is located on the wheel suspension behind the steel rim.
Steering
The steering system is a proprietary development from thyssenkrupp Components Technology. Thanks to the deployment of CFRP components, the steering shaft is approx. 60 percent lighter than a conventional steel shaft but still ensures high strength.
Shock absorbers
The shock absorbers were manufactured to a compact motorsports design specification, featuring manual height adjustment as well as the Bilstein B16 ridecontrol® adaptive damping system. The driver can match the damping forces to the road conditions and change between sport and comfort modes.
Back seats
For the back seats, sandwich material was used. This steel-polymer sandwich consists of two very thin steel sheets and a plastic core. The back seats support the vehicle’s lightweight design and offer room for two additional passengers.
Tubular frame
The extremely light tubular frame design is based on ultrahigh-strength steel with improved crash characteristics. The roll cage both protects the passengers and serves as a connection for the floor and the load-bearing structures.
