But as evolving EV design generates demand for brand new forms of parts, auto suppliers are doubling down on extra than simply their digitization and AI methods.
Linamar Corp., as an illustration, introduced plans in May to open a plant in Welland, Ont., that may home three high-pressure die-cast machines. The firm would be the first provider exterior Asia able to producing giant aluminum structural parts, usually referred to as giga castings. EVs have a “weight issue,” stated CEO Linda Hasenfratz, and utilizing the superior casting expertise to take the place of stamped-steel assemblies is an answer gaining automaker consideration.
“We’re kind of offsetting the weight of that heavy battery pack, which is like 800 to 1,000 kilograms that you’re hauling around with you,” Hasenfratz stated.
Guelph, Ont.-based Linamar has its first buyer lined up for the brand new parts in 2025, and Hasenfratz is assured that others will comply with because the provider perfects the brand new functionality.
While giga casting expertise has already proved its mettle in automotive, NGen is working with Canadian producers on the following set of breakthroughs. On May 15, the group launched its newest name for challenge proposals for producers pursuing EV or fuel-cell improvement tasks.
“It’s not about buying current manufacturing technologies and trying to compete on global markets,” stated NGen’s Laughlin. “It’s about making a step change in how we manufacture things for significantly better quality [and] cost.”
NGen plans to take a position $35 million on the upcoming sequence of auto R&D tasks, leveraging an extra $60 million in company commitments.
The spending follows an earlier set of improvement tasks launched in 2021 that included new processes for producing battery cells, light-weight inverters and an array of different EV parts.
MAKING IT ALL ‘MESH’
Source: canada.autonews.com