By Alicia Hartlieb and Martin Hartlieb, Viami International Inc. Structural die castings for car bodies have been around for more than 30 years, and they have been growing in size and complexity. Many cars today already have parts like shock towers, cross members, and/or long side members made from structural aluminum die casting. Sometimes, even […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting LLC. The automotive industry landscape is shifting once again. For the past decade, the industry has seen heavy interest in electric vehicles (EVs), with automotive OEMs making significant investments to convert their vehicle lineup to EVs. However, OEMs are now taking a step back and reconsidering their electrification strategy.1 The […]
By Lynn Brown, Long Point Associates, and Shane Tredup, Custom Aluminum Products and the AEC Sustainability Team Over the past 6-12 months, aluminum extruders have reported substantial growth in the number and frequency of requests for environmental data from customers, including the carbon footprint of their products, the extruders GHG Protocol Scope 1, Scope 2 […]
By Melissa Zirps, Magrathea. Elon Musk was sitting in his office, eyeing a Hot Wheels toy car on his desk, when he asked, “Why can’t we make real cars the same way we make toy cars?” This question reflects the attempt by car manufacturers to test the limits of consolidation and lightweight construction in the […]
By Alicia Hartlieb and Martin Hartlieb, Viami International Inc. Numerous studies, especially from Ducker-Carlisle, have shown that aluminum usage in light vehicles has been growing for decades, having surpassed 500 lbs (227 kg) per light vehicle in North America and 396 lbs (180 kg) per vehicle in Europe. Until now, castings have been the predominant […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting LLC. Electric vehicles (EVs) and electrification of transportation in general are topics that dominate news outlets, magazines, and social media. OEMs, materials manufacturers, and those looking to capitalize on this new electrified economy are constantly sharing a barrage of information and data on new business models, the projected performance of […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting LLC. The automotive business is rife with change as OEMs introduce new powertrains for hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs). Car companies are also spending billions in big bets on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), ride sharing, artificial intelligence (AI), and service businesses in an attempt to shift dollars from the […]
By Andrew Halonen, Mayflower Consulting LLC. Regardless of whether a vehicle features an electric or internal combustion engine (ICE), there are many factors that affect the fuel efficiency and range in its design. Efficiency losses can come in many forms, but are generally affected by factors such as aerodynamics, rolling resistance, friction losses, and weight. […]
Mayflower Consulting conducted a study on automotive suspension systems to determine the value of aluminum forgings in the application.
