The 2021 Ford F-150 pick-up truck was unveiled in June, and the new model is headed to showrooms this fall. Ford stuck with the all-aluminum body for the 2021 model, which rides on a steel frame. According to Ford, despite looking similar to current models, every exterior aluminum body panel on the F-150 is newly […]
On June 25th, Constellium announced that it will lead a consortium of automotive manufacturers and suppliers to develop structural aluminum battery enclosures for electric vehicles. The £15 million Aluminium Intensive Vehicle Enclosures (ALIVE) project will be developed in the UK and funded in part by a grant from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) as a component of its […]
Last week Nissan released its new Rogue, their best-selling vehicle. The 2021 model features more aluminum throughout the body than previous iterations. Its hood, fenders, and doors are all made of aluminum. According to Nissan, some aluminum exists on the current-generation Rogue. “The new model just has an increase,” said Jeff Wandell, electric vehicle and […]
Xpeng Motors launched production at the Zhaoqing Xpeng Motors Intelligent Industrial Park, its new wholly owned factory in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, China. The factory will manufacture the company’s super-long range, electric sports sedan Xpeng P7, which is constructed with a a steel-aluminum hybrid frame. Electric Sports Sedan The P7 is an electric sports sedan capable of providing high-performance, a super-long […]
Hydro and Northvolt, a leading European battery manufacturer based in Sweden, formed a 50/50 joint venture, called Hydro Volt AS, which will focus on enabling the recycling of battery materials and aluminum from electric vehicles (EVs). A typical EV battery pack may contain more than 25% aluminum, totaling about 70-100 kg aluminum per pack. “We […]
Tesla, Inc. submitted a patent application, titled “System and Method for Facilitating Pulsed Spray Quench of Extruded Objects.” The patent application describes a quenching process that aims to increase the strength, rigidity, and energy absorption of 6000 series extruded aluminum components. During the extrusion process, the microstructure of the aluminum can have a significant impact on […]
By Jinlong “Marshall” Wang, Aluminum Association; Jessica Sanderson, Novelis North America; Chris Moore, Consultant for Arconic; Duncan Pitchford, Hydro North America; Jerome Fourmann, Rio Tinto North America; Karah Davenport, Stratacomm; and Kenneth Martchek, Martchek Consulting The steel industry has made sensational life cycle assessment (LCA) claims about its products in automotive lightweighting applications over comparable […]
Volvo, the automaker known for making some of the safest cars in the world, has created a new safer electric vehicle by incorporating the battery within the aluminum structure of its upcoming Polestar 2. Enclosed in an aluminum case for protection and rigidity, the battery pack is fully housed within the floor structure of the […]
