How will the electric vehicle evolution affect stamping manufacture?

Jul 28, 2023

Chevrolet Bolt EV and Chevrolet Sonic vehicles are assembled at the General Motors Orion plant in Orion Township, Mich. Electric vehicles present both opportunities and challenges for stamping manufacturers. Photo courtesy of GM, Detroit

Auto industry experts say that the era of electric and autonomous vehicles is right around the corner. So how will this transition to EVs and AVs affect stamping manufacture?

STAMPING Journal reached out to automakers and other auto industry insiders, press OEMs, material suppliers, and premier stamping tier suppliers to explore how the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles and other autonomous, connected, electric, and shared (ACES) vehicles will impact—and has impacted—metal stamping manufacture.

Questions STAMPING Journal aims to answer are: Is this transition actually happening and not a hoax? If so, when? Will the shift from ICE to ACES vehicles offer new market opportunities? Will it have a detrimental effect? Will lightweighting still matter? What will stampers have to do to be ready for this change, if anything?

The short answers are yes, now, yes, somewhat, yes, and read on.

Although total global battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (battery electric vehicle (BEV)/plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV)) sales are only 2.2 percent currently, the growth trend curves sharply upward. BEV uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs and PHEV has a battery that can be recharged by plugging it into an external source of electric power, as well as by its onboard engine and generator. According to S&P Global, global EV car sales surged 63 percent in 2018—by 79 percent in China, by 81 percent in the U.S., and by 34 percent in Europe.

The International Energy Agency forecasts that EVs will grow from 3 million today to 125 million by 2030.

In its Electric Vehicle Outlook 2019, Bloomberg predicts that 57 percent of all global passenger vehicle sales will be electric by 2040 (see Figure 1).

End of the ICE Age? In his September 2018 Forbes article, "Seven Reasons Why The Internal Combustion Engine Is A Dead Man Walking," Tom Raftery cites that most major automakers have invested heavily in EVs and are rolling them out; many countries’ policies have ICE vehicle phaseouts and EV quotas; battery costs are falling and with them the vehicles’ prices; and consumers have voiced their plans to buy them.

Investments and Rollouts. Global carmakers will invest at least $90 billion in electric vehicles, according to a 2018 Reuters article.

To help meet its commitment to the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, Volkswagen, the world's largest automaker, is investing $50 billion in electrification through 2023; plans to produce 1 million electric vehicles by 2025; and will introduce 70 new all-electric models by 2028. So said Volkswagen Senior Vice President, Strategy, Reinhard Fischer at the 2019 Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Summit (CAR MBS) Aug. 6-8.

Figure 1 Based on current trends, Bloomberg predicts that EVs will comprise 57 percent of vehicle sales by 2040. art courtesy of BloombergNEF

Most automakers are following suit. Ford has committed $11 billion through 2023, and GM announced it would roll out 20 fully electric models by 2023. Volvo will debut five battery electrics between 2019 and 2021 and no longer is designing cars without batteries, according to a Wired article, "Ford Finally Makes Its Move Into Electric Cars."

Countries’ Policies Global Effect. Consider that at this time, 183 nations and the European Union have ratified the Paris Climate Accord, thereby committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in an effort to halt climate change. That commitment includes a 30 percent GHG reduction by 2025 over 2015 emissions per car life cycle. Their energy policies reflect that commitment.

Norway is in the lead. The country's Parliament has voted to require that by 2025 all new vehicles sold there be electric. The mandate follows Norwegian consumers’ preferences. Electric cars outsold fossil fuel-powered vehicles in March 2019, according to an April 1 report in Industrial Equipment News.

China and several European countries have mandated that automakers meet a quota of their vehicles as EVs.

China's New Energy Vehicle (NEV) mandate is part of its plan to have 4.6 million EVs on the road by 2020 and ban traditional ICE cars over the long term, according to a May 2019 Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania article, "China's Electric Vehicle Market: A Storm of Competition Is Coming." More than 500 manufacturers have registered to make EVs in China.

The Chinese government had introduced subsidies in 2010 to promote EV sales, driven in large part by its desire to cut pollution levels in accordance with its Paris Accord commitment but plans to phase them out by 2020.

Consumer Preferences. According to a recent AAA survey, 34 percent of Americans plan to buy an EV in the next 10 years, as reported in a May 2018 Consumer Reports article. A BBC News article cites that survey results show "half of young people want electric cars."

Cost Parity. One of the largest costs of a BEV is its battery pack, according to Volkswagen's Fischer. Those costs are falling as fast as a Tesla Roadster, as documented by Bloomberg (see Figure 2). Lithium-ion batteries cost $1,000 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2010. By 2017 that cost had fallen to $200 per kWh. At the Tesla shareholder meeting in June 2018, CEO Elon Musk projected that Tesla would be at $100 per kWh by 2020. That cost—$100 per kWh—is widely agreed to be where EVs and ICE vehicles will be at price parity, according to the article.

By 2020 the cost of batteries will have fallen 90 percent over the course of a decade, while battery capacity increased. In addition, zinc battery technology has been upgraded so that it is now rechargeable, adding yet another dimension to the battery price equation.

This means that the purchase price of EVs is falling, while the number of models of electric vehicles available is about to increase.

Volkswagen unveiled its ID.3 EV Sept. 9 at the European Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany. The fully electric compact hatchback, which gets up to 342 miles on a charge, will be available only in Europe in spring 2020. VW plans to release a crossover SUV in the U.S. at a later time.

According to Inside EVs, 2020 will be the breakthrough year for EVs. Audi, BMW, Chevy, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Land Rover, Lucid, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Tesla, Volvo, Volkswagen, and boutique automakers are introducing or upgrading electrified vehicles—both fully electric and hybrid-electric—in 2020.

As for autonomous, connected vehicles, they are out on the road right now; however, the consensus of a panel of experts at the CAR MBS is that it will be 2030, even 2040, before autonomous vehicles are mainstream.

Consensus among everyone interviewed is that electric vehicles will represent new market opportunities for stampers.

Ford NA Die Engineering Manager, VOME Stamping Eric Frevik and Chief Engineer for Stamping Engineering Jason Ryska said that any major stamping changes will occur in the vehicle architecture.

"With EVs the vast majority of the sheet metal is unchanged for the type of parts Ford makes internally. The upper body structure is essentially the same with the exception of the charging port on the front fender rather than a fuel filler on the body side," Frevik said, adding that the fender placement is unique to Ford, and that it is based on consumer preference research.

"There is potential for the underbody to change drastically depending on the packaging of the battery. For example, packaging the battery at or near the trunk is a completely different architecture than using the entire underbody platform to package the battery. The platform stampings have a much higher probability of change as we move to EVs.

"For AVs there is higher potential for the upper body to change in order to package and mount sensors, cameras, and other technology on the vehicle exterior," he continued. "There is potential to have sheet metal designs for the fenders, body sides, and roofs that require features for the sensors."

Hello, Battery Enclosure. Press OEMs have been keeping an eye on the market to ensure that they are ready to equip stampers for it. "We expect to see increased demand for battery enclosure applications and other components such as terminals as the EV market grows," said AIDA Director of International Sales Kland Aida.

Nidec Press & Automation Vice President of Sales Rick Schwartz said, "In addition, there will be more demand for stamping of ultrathin, 0.20-mm lamination materials that are required for the electrical vehicle motors."

Schuler Group Global Head of Automotive Division Klaus Linnig said, "No doubt that there are and will be new opportunities—but also a whole lot of new competitors chasing them.

Figure 2 EV battery costs dropped from $1,000 to $200 per kWh in seven years. They are expected to drop to $100 per kWh by 2020. That cost—$100 per kWh—is widely agreed to be where EVs and ICE vehicles will be at price parity, bringing EVs into the mainstream. Chart courtesy of Bloomberg

"The underlying numbers as such are quite impressive," he said, citing a study that says China will manufacture 6.8 million electric cars by 2021, followed by the U.S. (3.1 million), Germany (2.2 million), and Japan (1 million). Linnig sees market opportunities for stampers in statistics predicting that battery capacity will rise from 120 gigawatt-hours (GWh) to more than 400 GWh by 2022, which corresponds to about 1 billion cell cases that must be manufactured (stamped).

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Vice President Automotive Program Jody Hall said, "I think there certainly will be opportunities and all the details are yet to be determined. The thing that is getting the most attention now is the battery enclosure."

Several stampers have already benefited from supplying to the new market.

Shiloh, a Tier 1 supplier of primarily aluminum and magnesium assemblies, has found market opportunities in stamping assemblies for BEVs (see Figure 3). The stamping and casting manufacturer makes an EV charger box, control box, battery box rear, battery box bottom, and motor housing, while continuing to manufacture parts for ICE vehicles.

Shiloh, which cites its lightweighting technology as part of its identity and as a defining differentiator, is making acoustic panel laminates to reduce interior noise, while simultaneously reducing the assembly's weight by 4.4 lbs. The manufacturer showcases its aluminum laser welded inner door that saves 7.7 lbs. of mass. Ever cognizant that lightweighting's end goal is environmental, the company also touts that the newly designed door saves 10,000 metric tons of CO2 and reduces scrap by 11 percent, while also realizing cost savings of more than $17 million.

More than six decades of experience in high-volume precision metal stamping for the automotive market gives CEP Technologies Corp. a unique perspective on the changes taking place among carmakers, according to President Ken Kaufmann Jr. The global stamping manufacturer, headquartered in Yonkers, N.Y., serves a diverse customer base in automotive OEM and aftermarket, telecommunications, semiconductors, power protection, computers, and switches.

Kaufmann said the company is already seeing business growth stemming from vehicle electrification to replace waning business in other areas. The need for increased electrical conductivity in battery contacts, terminals, and PC boards is one of the niche product spaces experiencing growth. "We currently make a heat sink that is assembled on an infotainment unit that provides in-car Wi-Fi, for example."

In recent years carmakers’ technological milestones included automatic high-beam control, backup cameras, smart home integration, autonomous vehicles, GPS vehicle tracking, and car-to-car communication, noted Kaufmann. "The way cars are evolving, we expect the electrical componentry segment of our business to grow," he said. "These types of advances will require various custom battery contacts, shielding products, press fit pins, and customized precision metal stampings. With the increasing number of PCBs being used in today's vehicles, we have seen a nice upturn in the production of custom press fit pin terminals and custom shielding covers and frames in various materials and sizes. One such project is going into a turbocharger for large-truck applications. As technology continues to integrate itself with the transportation industry, we are seeing all facets of transportation being redesigned. Our most recent project is a stamped component for switches in large-truck applications."

Although some stamping stator laminations may require fineblanking and high-speed presses, small electrical custom progressive metal stampings are made at CEP on straight-side mechanical presses that range in size from 15 to 60 tons (see Figure 4).

Kaufmann continued, "We’re currently making a battery contact for a multi-national OEM's key fobs and a set of components for another automaker's door entry systems. Keyless ignition systems that allow you to start your car from a distance just by pressing a button on your key fob are sensor-driven and need contacts and precision metal stampings in different forms. For one current project we produce approximately 3.5 million units annually for door entry systems." For another key fob platform, CEP produces about 5 million custom battery contacts a year.

China's new energy vehicle (NEV) mandate is part of its plan to have 4.6 million EVs on the road by 2020 and eventually ban cars with traditional internal combustion engines. Photo courtesy of BYD Auto Co. Ltd., Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China

In her CAR MBS presentation, "The Path to Electrification," Delphi Technologies Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Mary Gustanski said that the transportation industry is changing rapidly. She said that the convergence of three megatrends pre-sents both challenges and opportunities: "The value proposition for powertrain technologies is by leveraging automation, connectivity, and electrification. The future of propulsion is cleaner, better, further," she said.

Positioning itself as a global automotive electronics technology leader, Delphi is likely to benefit as electronics are predicted to increase in demand. "More electrification is required for regulatory compliance and functionality. Systems integration capability is a necessity for optimum performance. Increased active safety sensors and connectivity make more data available to the vehicle," she said.

As vehicle content and complexity increase, more intelligence is required, as well as a need for increased computing power for real-time control, she added.

"Not really. The major parts of combustion engines and transmissions are castings, not stampings," voiced Volkswagen spokesperson Mark Gillies. "For VW, we don't anticipate any major change in the immediate future. Our BEVs are being designed to be bought by the millions, not millionaires, so we are still making the bodies in the traditional way. We are not substituting steel stampings with carbon fiber parts, for instance, as the cost would be prohibitive for our potential customers."

Gillies suspects that any potential reduced demand resulting from the absence of combustion engines and transmissions may be compensated with demand from related devices. "We believe two factors might equal out: less complexity in EVs versus more demand for auxiliary units such as charging stations."

Bye, Bye Heat Shield. Ford's Ryska said that although combustion engines contain a few small progressive stampings, most engine components are castings and parts machined from solid blocks. "We wouldn't need the heat shield for the exhaust anymore. Yeah, some of those parts will change, but those parts in other areas of the vehicle like the battery will probably balance what is lost in the combustion engine."

Frevik said that sheet metal stampings are likely to continue to be the material of choice. "The high strength-to-weight ratio of sheet metal parts is very cost-competitive to other designs, so I would expect that sheet metal would be the preferred material choice—unless the structural requirements cannot be met," he said. "There are obviously sheet metal parts associated with ICE powertrains and transmissions. However, I believe this can easily be offset with other stampings required for batteries and underbody components required for EVs."

AISI's Hall said she thinks that, as a whole, stampers will not be adversely affected. "Most of the [stamped] sheet metal is used for the body, closures, and the chassis or suspension components. There’re not a lot of stamped parts in the engine and transmission components."

Nidec's Schwartz said, "Anything related to bracketry on automobiles may be affected. Certainly anything stamped going into or around the engine and transmission will no longer be needed."

Aida said, "Yes, there have been changes in focus, especially away from some transmission parts. Some stampers have started to heavily invest their R&D in EV/AV technologies. If the growth of EV and noncombustion-engine vehicles continues as expected, it is needless to say that we will see decline in growth of transmission parts stamping from these companies, and they will invest in stamping or some other method to produce EV- or HEV-related components."

Figure 3 Shiloh has found market opportunities for stampings and assemblies in battery electric vehicles, including battery housings and battery bracket assemblies. Image courtesy of Shiloh Industries, Valley City, Ohio

Aida cautioned that transmission parts stamping will not disappear overnight, and transmission stampers should not abandon their core businesses immediately. "Many research results show that combustion engine vehicle sales will keep its number until 2030 before it begins to decline. We also need to take into consideration that infrastructure and its technology must support the EV market demands for the technology to be sustainable."

CEP Technologies continues to stamp a large volume of parts for combustible engine and fuel pump applications. Automotive ignition terminals are a standard product line. "From our standpoint, that [phaseout of ICE vehicles] could be seen as a negative," Kaufmann said. "That said, we are seeing an uptick for components in other areas. In general, cars are being designed with a variety of new features that require a tremendous number of stampings—particularly custom shielding products," he said.

"Stampers may lose out on combustible engines, but on the flip side, as cars get smarter, the number of products being created increases—something we’re taking advantage of," Kaufmann said.

Stamping manufacturers struggling with forming tough advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) and high-strength aluminum, titanium, and magnesium cannot be faulted if they are looking for relief from a new electric propulsion system. Considering that the push to light-weight vehicles has been driven by environmental policies and customer preferences to mitigate climate change by lowering tailpipe emissions, and that electric vehicles have no tailpipe (much less tailpipe emissions), how important will vehicle lightweighting be?

Ford's Frevik said, "Yes, definitely. It will move in the direction of lightweighting whether it's aluminum, or thinner, hot stamped or high-strength steel. It's very important with electric vehicles to continue to reduce weight to extend range. And when you get into something as extreme as the F-series architecture, we get into hydroformed components, a completely different manufacturing process, to maintain the rollover requirements."

Automotive Aluminum Advisors President Nate Beavers contends that reducing vehicle weight is critically important. "If you look at the vehicle architecture today and those that are being designed for tomorrow, lightweighting is a key component of the OEMs’ and suppliers’ strategies," he said at the Global Automotive Lightweighting Materials (GALM) conference, Aug. 20-22. "Whether it's an ICE vehicle or an electric vehicle, lightweighting is important to meet regulatory requirements, range, driving performance, and consumer preferences."

Daimler AG coordinated an alliance of six European automakers (Daimler, Volkswagen, Volvo, Opel, TME, and Centro Ricerche Fiat) to research optimal lightweighting materials and manufacturing processes. Prof. Dr. Sama Mbang, Daimler Mercedes-Benz, headed up a three-year research project for the AffordabLe LIghtweight Automobiles AlliaNCE (ALLIANCE), which just concluded in 2019.

Mbang said that lightweighting will continue to be a driving force, even as vehicles no longer are propelled by emissions-producing combustion engines. "Lightweighting will still be very relevant, first of all, because lightweighting is related to efficiency, to performance, and also to parameters like emissions reduction as well for the cost savings." In addition, because battery packs add up to 500 kilograms of weight, lightweighting will be needed to balance that weight to extend EV range, he said.

Presenting at the recent GALM conference, Mbang said that the research objectives were threefold: weight reduction, emissions reduction, and affordability.

The three-year research project exceeded its goals. "First we developed new materials and validated them on existing vehicles on the road. And we developed related manufacturing. As you know, developing new materials is a challenge of manufacturing processes also, so we worked on reducing the cycle times and the manufacturing costs as well." The final results were a 33 percent weight reduction, 25 percent emissions reduction, and cost savings of 3 euros/kilograms.

Figure 4 Although the dies and presses for some stampings must be very large to accommodate complex dies, many of the dies CEP Technologies builds for EV electrical components can be small. Photo courtesy of CEP Technologies, Yonkers, N.Y.

Aida added, "We see our industry's challenge to accommodate the forming of high-strength, lightweight materials and we believe this will continue as the material properties change. Lightweighting will be one of the main focuses for car manufacturers whether the future is electric or another energy source."

Schuler's Linnig said, "There is no doubt that this global transition process is a major stress test for both OEMs and their suppliers. Traditional business models, profit margins, and skill sets are under severe pressure. Changing final products will change stampers’ products and their business focuses, which then will definitely affect our products to accommodate the changes."

Ford's Frevik and Ryska said that suppliers should take a proactive approach to solving problems. "Continue to be proactive and work with Ford Product Development and Purchasing to get on board early to provide feasibility direction to reduce cost and die sourcing strategies to reduce fixed cost," Frevik said.

The placement of the charging port in the front fender presents forming challenges, for example. "Customer research data shows that most people want to pull in forward toward the charging station and plug it in on the front driver's side. Unfortunately, it's the worst place to put it for us," Frevik said. "The body side material is more formable and it doesn't show as much distortion. The fender material is made from a bake-hardenable steel that shows more surface distortion." Stamping suppliers with good strategies for how to accomplish this well and quickly would face an open door, he indicated.

Tooling. Ryska emphasized that shortening the time to market for die development is critical, as is devotion to quality. "Quality and timing are extremely, extremely important. The quality expectations today on sheet metal fit and finish are high. People want better-quality vehicles."

Often suppliers struggle to meet the timing needed, he said. "So suppliers should try to be proactive about reducing the amount of time it takes to make their tooling. They really need to work on different ways to try to reduce the time it takes to make a die—anything that would prove to be better quality or shorter time to market."

Frevik suspects that one way this can occur is if die blocks become more dimensionally accurate so they need less machining.

Another approach may center around reducing the number of iterations at die tryout, Frevik said. "We plan for seven iterations after we get a sheet metal part off the dies to get it dimensionally correct. If a supplier has some technology or some strategy that gets there quicker than that … two or three would certainly be a game-changer."

Ryska said that he thinks the answer could lie in the springback compensation simulation. "We do a lot of virtual simulation of springback compensation before we ever cut the die. If that process gets a lot more accurate, I think that's where the game-changer is. If you’re able to completely predict virtually what the part's going to do when you stamp it and you can compensate for it, then, theoretically, you could build a die, put a piece of sheet metal in the press, run it through the dies, and it’d be a perfect part.

"That would be utopia!" he said.

Figure 5 More complex, larger dies and larger motor laminations require long press beds, such as on this Nidec Press & Automation Minster 3,700-mm EV lamination press.

Components are likely to be designed to eliminate the weight of joints, so tooling probably will become longer and more complex, many sources said. Kaufmann has met demands for longer dies. "Parts are becoming more complex. Thus, tools have become longer to complete all the cutting and forming operations."

Also, work materials are continuing to trend to higher and higher strengths, so dies will continue to need to withstand the rigors of these very hard metals. They will need to be high-strength, undergo hardening, and require strategic lubrication to reduce friction.

Presses. Nidec's Schwartz said he believes that there will be a need for different types of presses as market demands change. "I see a need for double-action cupping machines necessary for battery cylinders that are similar in size to a C size battery cell.

"High-speed stamping machines with long bed lengths will be important, along with speed flexibility for each stamping solution," Schwartz continued (see Figure 5). "Some EV electric motor designs will employ gluing technology to hold the stack of laminations together, and some stacks will employ interlocking technology."

Schwartz added that stamping presses for high-speed EV motor stator/rotor laminations must have a low-deflection bed and ram system that is 3,700 mm long or longer. "For high-speed stamping, machines that are low-vibration cast iron, along with precision push-pull servo feeding, will be critical."

Schuler and AIDA-America also engineer and manufacture high-speed lamination presses for EV motor stator/rotor lamination applications (see Figures 6 and 7).

"We offer systems for the economic serial production of components for e-cars, such as metal housings for batteries and electric motor laminations for motors," Linnig said. "We have developed a high-speed press for the increasingly complex geometry of electric motor laminations that enables higher energy efficiency through thinner laminations and, as a consequence, lower eddy current losses."

Longer and more complex tooling alters press bed size requirements, Aida said. "In recent years we’ve already been experiencing demand surges with larger bed sizes, typically 3.7 meter in feeding length."

Linnig said that it is not only complexity driving longer press bed sizes. "At the same time, electric motors grow in diameter to achieve higher performance. As a result, custom stampings are becoming smaller and more complex, requiring longer dies to accommodate the amount of progressions."

CEP affirms that conclusion. Kaufmann said the company has invested in higher-tonnage presses—"not for the tonnage but for the bed size because of the longer tooling."

Figure 6 Schuler's new Smartline EV 3.8 high-speed blanking press has a length of 3.7 meters and can process a strip width of up to 630 mm. The quantity of laminations the stamper is going to produce determines whether it fits a single- or double-row die. Images courtesy of Schuler Inc., Canton, Mich

Schwartz added, "Some areas will in fact decrease; however, others will increase. As applications change, so do the type of stampings and therefore the stamping methods. I expect the number of presses required to remain constant; however, many of the new presses required will be different from traditional designs."

Aida said, "We expect to see continuing demand for lightweight, ultrahigh-tensile steel for structural components, and servo technology will be able to provide great formability for these difficult-to-stamp parts."

Materials. A surge in demand for electrical components may require stampers to form exotic materials or material thicknesses they are unfamiliar with. Kaufmann said, "Because we produce custom metal stampings, our diverse customer base requires us to stamp a considerably wide variety of raw materials—high-performance copper-based alloys, cold-rolled steel, stainless steel, and aluminum. We have the technical know-how to produce parts from material as thin as 0.004 in. and fit 50,000 pieces in the palm of your hand."

Aida noted, "The usage of aluminum parts in car manufacture has been increasing dramatically to achieve lighter-weight vehicles."

Automotive Aluminum Advisors’ Beavers said that the highest growth in steel-to-aluminum conversions is in the closure panels. "Think hoods, doors, lift gates … along with body-in-white applications for traditionally powered vehicles, but even more so for the EVs. On average, we see substantially more aluminum content in electric vehicles than a traditionally powered vehicle. That's because of the range requirements, which really drives the increased penetration of aluminum. Then a third area which we’re really excited about is the battery enclosures and the battery packs for EVs. Those tend to use aluminum."

The emergence of Gen3 AHSS has resolved many of the formability problems associated with previous steel generations. Elongation properties have increased, while the steel still retains its tensile strength (Read "Third-generation advanced high-strength steel emerges" on thefabricator.com).

So will Gen3 steels formed on servo presses obsolete hot stamping? More conjecture to come on that topic.

One of the new steel materials recently developed and commercialized is Material Sciences Corp.'s MSC Smart Steel®, a new multilayer steel laminate engineered as a direct substitute for low-carbon steel to stamp vehicle parts. The material saves 20 to 40 percent of mass compared with same-thickness standard steel, the company claims.

Sold as a coil, the material can be stamped in conventional dies, spot welded with existing equipment, and processed through standard electrocoat and paint systems, making it compatible with existing manufacturing.

The multilayer steel garnered the Altair Enlighten Award in the Emerging Technologies category. The Enlighten Award honors the automotive industry's achievements in weight savings.

Figure 7 High-speed presses engineered for very thin-gauge metal motor laminations must be extremely rigid and free of deflection. Photo of a lamination press and its motor laminations courtesy of AIDA-America, Dayton, Ohio

Assemblies. Aida proposed that changes in materials and applications will bring challenges and opportunities to stampers to develop new tools and dies, as well as to incorporate value-added stamping processes, such as in-die processes with advanced joining technology. "Doing so can help stampers to be more productive and possibly achieve lighter-weight products by combining multiple components into assemblies."

One of the most surprising byproducts of the shift from ICE to ACES vehicles has been the pairing of archrivals to approach the massive challenges inherent in the new technologies—electrification, but more notably, autonomous vehicles.

Just as the rising costs of vehicles and transportation have driven new forms of ride-sharing and ride-hailing such as Uber and Lyft, the steep costs of developing electric, and especially autonomous, vehicles are prompting automakers to form alliances with competitors to collaborate on the expensive R&D. The ALLIANCE is an example.

One remarkable alliance is the partnering of Ford and Volkswagen. The two automakers are accessing each other's strengths to augment their own, thereby reducing their R&D investments substantially. Volkswagen has invested in Ford's Argo AI, and Ford will use Volkswagen's modular electric toolkit, known as MEB, to design an all-new battery-electric vehicle for its European operations, according to Ford and VW press releases.

Ford CEO Jim Hackett and VW CEO Herbert Diess announced that the wide-ranging cooperation on electric and autonomous vehicles has the promise to save each company hundreds of millions in future development costs while catching them up in areas where they are respectively lagging competitors, according to Automotive News (see Figure 8).

Ford's not-yet-released BEV is intended to be built at a Ford plant beginning in 2023.

Stampers also performing joining are likely to do more nonwelding joining, especially in mixed-material applications.

Although most article contributors believe that vehicle bodies will continue to be stamped, some think that the body shapes may change. Body styling may change as consumers want to call attention to the electrified nature of the vehicle, one auto industry expert said at the Great Designs in Steel conference in May (see Figure 9). This might mean illuminated features, for example.

The absence of engines and a steering wheel in AVs will change interior architecture, and that may be true for EVs as well, Nidec's Schwartz said. "With an EV automobile, the architecture of the vehicle may change as it relates to required space." Shorter hood, longer interior.

The need to develop the infrastructure for EVs and AVs may present market opportunities as well, industry insiders conjecture. EVs will need auxiliary parts such as EV charging stations and renewable energy components to complete the zero-emissions goals.

"Plug ’er in," rather than "fill ’er up." Auxiliary products such as charging stations and even renewable energy sources such as solar energy carports may present market opportunities as well.

Aida said, "In a long-term vision, I expect to see there will be differences in stamped components required by the market to accommodate vehicles using different types of energy source. There will be fewer combustion engine parts produced in the future, and the number of stamped parts per vehicle will probably change. But we see many opportunities—not only in laminations and battery enclosures, but other applications related to EVs, as well as vehicles with other alternative energies. For example, AIDA has been experiencing an increase in demand for specialized high-precision presses that can accommodate stamping of separators for hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Nidec's Schwartz advised, "Stay diligent in the learning curve. Look for the best and most efficient equipment for the stamping application. Daily reliability should also be a key consideration."

Schuler's Linnig offered, "Don't expect this to be just a storm passing by."

AIDA's Aida said, "As final products change their requirements, we need to be innovative to meet the changes with value-added products, and we see this as a great opportunity."

AISI's Hall recommended that stamping manufacturers team up with other stampers just as the automakers are doing. "I think it's really important to collaborate in this industry and to reach out and learn about what's coming along." Hall added that the AISI and the Auto/Steel Partnership offer free training to stampers in how best to stamp these new steels, as well as just help understanding the various grades and terms. "You don't have to try to do it all on your own, because there are so many resources available.

"I look to the future as a positive change. There will be new challenges, but I think they will be more about keeping up in the future."

At the Stamping in an EV World Conference (Sept. 29, 2020, in Ann Arbor, Mich.) Stamping manufacturers and metal fabricators will gain insights and direction from automakers and other auto industry insiders such as press OEMs, material suppliers, battery OEMs, and premier stamping tier suppliers who are already supplying the EV industry.

Company owners and top management, plant managers, stamping supervisors, and engineers at stamping manufacturing and metal fabrication companies who attend this event will be ahead of the curve.