Why demand for these cold forming steels are on the rise?
Keeping component weight and costs to a minimum is a main focus as electric cars become more popular. Therefore, the demand for cold formable, Advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) will become more important than ever in driving innovation towards a more sustainable future.
Reducing rolling resistance
As of 2010, the average CO2 emission per km was 140g per vehicle in the EU. New EU targets for 2025 aim to cut average vehicle emissions in half, down to 70g of CO2 per km. To achieve this, fuel consumption must be drastically reduced. Electric vehicles will be one of the major driving forces behind achieving this goal. One big challenge, however, is to improve the driving range of the batteries for electric cars.
A way to do this is to reduce the rolling resistance. Rolling resistance is affected by the weight of the car so using lightweight and strong steel solutions will be very important.As stronger, cold formable grades of AHSS become available to OEMs, reducing the weight of complex components is possible without the costly and energy consuming process of hot forming.
Lightweight battery protectors
Components like side impact beams, bumpers, pillars and seats are some of the traditional areas that AHSS is used for, but for electric cars, new components come into play. A good example of this is battery protectors. Electric cars batteries are expensive and need to be protected from road debris or leaking hazardous material in the event of a crash.
Battery protectors made from AHSS can help to ensure the strongest protection with the lowest possible weight.
Together, cold formable AHSS like Docol®, from SSAB, and electric vehicles make a good combination for reducing worldwide emissions, improving vehicle performance and providing OEM and electric vehicle manufacturers with a competitive advantage.