A soft, deep-drawing steel was selected for the cover and tray of the steel battery housing to achieve the required formability for production. Both good formability and increased strength after forming are crucial for the base plate of the steel version in order to meet the requirement for underride protection.
Hot-stamped Steel. The battery pack ring reinforcement uses hot-stamped, or press-hardened steel to provide maximum structural protection. The hot stamping of boron steel nets strengths of up to 2,000 MPa. Hot stamping renders the ring lightweight yet strong enough to protect the battery pack.
Mechanical properties of batteries are often 2–3 orders of magnitude lower than load-bearing structural components for aircraft or ground transportation . Hence, to develop structural batteries, strategies for mechanical reinforcement are required.
Life cycle assessments show that steel is the most sustainable material for battery housings. Up to two thirds less greenhouse gas emissions arise in the production of a steel battery housing compared with an aluminum design. During use, the carbon footprints of steel and aluminum battery housings are virtually identical.
In this study, Magna has shown that battery housings for electric vehicles can also be made from steel. The steel housing ensures basic protection of the battery cells and saves significant costs in large-scale production. The greatest advantage of steel construction is its low component costs.
The number-one priority is to provide maximum protection for the electric vehicle’s core component. The requirements are complex: the battery must be crash-proof and corrosion-resistant, electromagnetically shielded and cooled. The selectrify ® battery housing is a newly developed steel design offering excellent performance.