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Aluminum application: opportunity brought by new energy vehicles to aluminum industry
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With the great improvement of new energy vehicles in the fields of family cars, official vehicles, public buses, taxis, logistics vehicles, etc., according to the materials, the annual sales volume of new energy vehicles in China will reach more than 5% of the total demand of the automobile market in 2020, and a new energy vehicle industrial system with market-oriented, enterprise as the main body and strict separation of production, teaching, research and application will be initially established. It will increase to about 20% in 2025, forming an independent, controllable and sound industrial chain. Under the national goal of total carbon emissions and the demand of primary energy substitution catalog, the proportion of new energy vehicles in the annual sales volume will continue to increase significantly in 2030, with the range of more than 10 million vehicles.

It is not too late for China to implement the strategy of new energy vehicles. As early as 2001, the development of new energy vehicles was listed as the "863" serious scientific and technological topic during the Tenth Five Year Plan period. In recent years, in order to promote the consumption of new energy vehicles, governments at all levels have also implemented policies such as car purchase subsidies and license plate priority. The demand and development of new energy vehicles will drive the development of various automobile batteries, body lightweight and auto parts industries in the new energy era, and also bring unlimited market opportunities to China's aluminum industry.

Different from traditional vehicles, new energy vehicles use batteries as power to drive vehicles. They are limited by the weight of power batteries, the driving range of power batteries, and the high pressure of automobile energy conservation and emission reduction policies. In vehicle design and data application, the lightweight of the car body has become the first problem that automobile enterprises should consider. Therefore, battery driven new energy vehicles are more urgent to reduce the body weight than traditional vehicles. This has also opened up a wider market space for light materials such as aluminum.

In the automobile lightweight data, the comprehensive cost performance ratio of aluminum alloy profile is higher than that of steel, magnesium, plastic and composite materials, so it has comparative advantages in application technology, operation safety and recycling application. As long as the density of aluminum material is only 1 / 3 of that of steel, its weight reduction and energy saving effect is obvious, and it can better improve the ride comfort under the premise of ensuring safety. At the same time, the aluminum material is more easy to recycle. The comprehensive cost performance advantage of aluminum determines that it becomes the choice of automotive lightweight application.

The main application parts of aluminum in new energy automobile parts are body, wheel hub, chassis, anti-collision beam, floor, power battery and seat. According to the classification of processing methods, automotive aluminum is mainly divided into three forms: die casting, extrusion and calendering. The amount of die-casting parts accounts for about 80%, and the extrusion and calendering parts account for about 10%. Die casting parts are mainly used for engine, wheel and other parts, extrusion parts are mainly used for seat frame, luggage rack, door beam, etc., while calendering parts are mainly aluminum plate for consumer body.

Among them, the car body includes the body frame made of high-performance aluminum profiles and the skin and door made of high-precision aluminum plate; aluminum alloy wheel hub (cast aluminum wheel hub or forged aluminum wheel hub); chassis includes high-strength large-section aluminum profile structural parts and aluminum alloy forgings; anti-collision beam bumper made of profiles; new energy bus floor; lithium-ion battery includes battery positive aluminum foil and battery aluminum Case and battery aluminum tray (all European and American battery trays are made of aluminum alloy profiles, while domestic battery trays are made of both aluminum alloy and stainless steel); new energy bus seat system, etc.

In the past, new energy vehicles used steel materials to make electric vehicle power battery tray. Now many enterprises mainly use aluminum alloy profiles. The density of aluminum alloy profile is 2.7g/cm, and the advantage of aluminum alloy material is obvious in the aspects of contraction and welding. The density of magnesium alloy is 1.8g/cm and that of carbon fiber is 1.5g/cm. These data are used to consume battery tray, which will greatly improve the lightweight of new energy vehicles.

It is understood that the battery aluminum tray mainly uses 6 series aluminum profiles. Good plasticity and corrosion resistance, especially no stress corrosion cracking tendency and good welding performance, make 6 series aluminum profile very suitable for the application of this project. In order to ensure the production and quality, advanced welding technology such as friction stir welding is required to ensure the integrated forming of products.

The amount of aluminum used in new energy vehicles is more than that of ordinary vehicles. The high-speed development of new energy vehicles in China will certainly promote the development potential of aluminum materials in the new energy vehicle market segment. Aluminum processing enterprises seize this opportunity to develop high-performance, highly applicable aluminum or deep-processing aluminum parts, which undoubtedly opens up new opportunities for enterprises in the diversified application needs of new energy vehicles Sales orientation.


Updated:2018-07-09 | Return
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