Voestalpine : Study emphasizes that steel will continue to play a key role in electromobility in future

According to the study, BMW, for example, will be constructing its model i5 in steel and light alloys from 2021, rather than using carbon which dominated in the i3. Tesla, too, is reducing the share of aluminum and titanium in its model 3 in favor of steel. The European steel industry is now able to supply ultra-high-tensile yet light and formable steels. They score with their ease of processing, the homogenous surface for painting, higher raw material availability, and their ability to be combined with other materials. 'The share of high-strength steels amongst the steel grades used in vehicle construction will rise from its current level of 18 percent to 30 percent,' says Jan Kleibrink of the Handelsblatt Research Institute, citing preliminary work by the Posco Research Institute. According to the World Steel Association (worldsteel), this would allow vehicle weights to be reduced by between 25 and 39 percent, leading to potential savings of 3 to 4.5 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over a vehicle's service life. Rather than disproportionately expensive weight reduction, the trend is now towards achieving a balance between weight and costs by using a mix of different steel grades with aluminum and plastic surfaces.

Irrespective of the material used, absolute priority is given to the safety of a car body in the event of an accident. That's why, to date, a combination of aluminum and steel has been used. New steel grades have 3 to 4-times the tensile strength of conventional steels, making them particularly suitable for use in safety-relevant areas, as the study shows. voestalpine is regarded as a technology leader in the production of ultra high-strength yet increasingly lightweight body parts which ensure passenger safety while helping to significantly extend the electric vehicle range by reducing the overall weight.