Driven by factors such as the tightening of fuel consumption standards for fuel vehicles, the increase in the subsidy threshold for electric vehicles, and the pressure of new energy credits, vehicle and component manufacturers urgently need new technical paths to reduce consumption and save energy.
Automobile lightweight and integrated die-casting are important ways to reduce fuel consumption and improve battery life. Driven by demand, the penetration rate of automobile lightweight and integrated die-casting will continue to increase.
“Slimming” is the trend
Lightweight refers to reducing the curb weight of the car as much as possible on the premise of ensuring the strength and safety performance of the car.
Studies have shown that if the weight of the fuel vehicle is reduced by 10%, the fuel consumption will be reduced by 6-8%; if the weight of the new energy vehicle is reduced by 100kg, the cruising range will be increased by 10-11%, and the battery cost and daily wear and tear cost will be reduced by 20%.
For traditional fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles, lightweight technology can improve the efficiency of the power system, thereby reducing energy consumption and improving vehicle battery life. It has gradually become an important technical direction for major vehicle and parts companies.
Sla uses integrated die-casting technology on the basis of lightweight, leading a new round of technological innovation.
The integrated die-casting technology enables the body to be formed at one time, eliminating the complicated process of stamping first and then welding, which greatly simplifies the manufacturing process; since there are only 1-2 large parts, the integrated die-casting technology can avoid the problems caused by the connection of a large number of parts. Accumulated errors can improve manufacturing accuracy, save a lot of financial and material resources, and further improve the lightness of automobiles.
The Model 3 rear underbody adopts traditional technology and is assembled from 70 parts; Model Y adopts integrated die-casting technology. The rear underbody is composed of 2 large castings as a whole, and the connection points are reduced from 700-800 to about 50 One, the manufacturing time is reduced from 1-2 hours to 3-5 minutes, and the weight of the lower body assembly will be reduced by 30%.
According to Tesla’s news, the next step is to use integrated die-casting technology to manufacture a complete lower body assembly, die-casting about 370 parts into 2-3 large castings, and the weight will be further reduced by 10%, thereby increasing by about 14%. % of the cruising range.
Under the leadership of Tesla, a number of domestic aluminum alloy die-casting parts companies began to deploy integrated die-casting technology, and purchased a number of giant die-casting machines for integrated die-casting in areas such as body structural parts.
Aluminum alloy is an ideal lightweight material for automobiles, which can improve vehicle safety and fuel economy while reducing carbon emissions in the entire life cycle of automobiles. It is widely used in chassis, body, power system and other fields.
As one of the core components of the car, the chassis accounts for 27% of the vehicle weight, second only to the body-in-white and powertrain. Compared with the body, the chassis lightweight technology and process are more mature and the cost is lower. The chassis lightweight is an important area of vehicle lightweight.
At present, the main path for lightweight chassis is to replace steel with aluminum alloys. According to the data of the International Aluminum Association, the penetration rate of aluminum alloys in the power system reaches 90%, and the automobile chassis is still a blue ocean market compared with it.
The body is the part with the highest weight in the whole vehicle, and it is also the area with the greatest potential for lightweighting. In traditional cars, replacing ordinary steel with high-strength steel can reduce the weight by about 11%, and using aluminum alloys can reduce the weight by about 40%.
Compared with traditional vehicles, the three-electric system of new energy vehicles will increase the weight of the whole vehicle, thus affecting the battery life. For the same model, the three-electric system will lead to an additional weight of 200-300kg of the whole vehicle. The battery pack is the heaviest part, accounting for about 18-20% of the weight of the whole vehicle, of which the battery pack shell (battery box) accounts for about 10-20% of the weight of the battery pack, which is second only to the battery pack in weight. core components. After the improvement of battery energy density gradually entered a bottleneck period, the lightweight of battery boxes has become a key area of new energy vehicles.
At the current stage, the best lightweight solution for the battery box that takes into account the cost-effectiveness and lightweight effect is the combination of extruded aluminum lower shell and SMC upper cover. to further optimize.
High threshold, low concentration
According to the prospectus of Wencan Co., Ltd., in 2018, there were about 12,600 related enterprises in my country’s die-casting industry, of which the number of enterprises producing die-casting parts accounted for more than 70%, but the production capacity of lightweight die-casting parts of most suppliers was low.
Domestic aluminum alloy die-casting enterprises are roughly divided into three categories: one is the aluminum alloy die-casting plants under the vehicle enterprises, such as the Seiko Automobile Die-casting Branch under Great Wall Motors, and the Seiko Center under BYD’s Fudi Power. These types of enterprises are currently mainly supporting parent company. The second category is the joint ventures established by domestic OEMs and foreign die-casting companies, such as SAIC Huayu Pierburg Nonferrous Parts (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Huayu and Rheinmetall each hold 50% of the shares, supporting SAIC Volkswagen, FAW Volkswagen and SAIC GM. The third category is a large number of third-party aluminum alloy die-casting suppliers, such as listed companies Wencan Co., Ltd., Guangdong Hongtu, Aikedi, Top Group, etc. Most of these companies are second-tier suppliers, supporting ZF, Bosch, Valeo, WABCO and other system suppliers such as gearboxes, brakes, and steering.
Wencan Co., Ltd. was established in 1998. The company is mainly engaged in the R&D and production of automotive aluminum alloy precision die castings. In 2020, the company completed the acquisition of Bailian Group, a French listed company. Bailian Group’s products include aluminum alloy castings in the fields of automotive braking systems, air intake systems, and chassis structural parts.
Wencan Co., Ltd. is a pioneer of aluminum alloy die-casting body structural parts in China. In 2014, the company successfully developed body structural parts, and in 2014 realized mass production of body structural parts. At present, the company’s body structure parts for Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, and Shanghai Weilai have all entered the mass production stage, and it is one of the few domestic enterprises that can mass-produce aluminum alloy body structure parts. In 2021, the company ordered 7 large-scale die-casting machines, including 2 6000T die-casting machines, for the R&D and manufacturing of integrated body structure parts, and has a faster layout in integrated die-casting.
Guangdong Hongtu has also entered the supporting system of Xiaopeng Motors, and the two parties will simultaneously develop integrated structural parts. The latest news shows that the super-large integrated aluminum alloy rear floor die-casting structural parts of the 6800T new energy vehicle developed by the company (hereinafter referred to as “integrated structural parts”) were successfully trial-produced on January 17, 2022.
In addition, die-casting companies such as Chervon Automobile, Top Group, and Aikedi are also launching corresponding layout plans in the field of integrated die-casting, which will further enhance the company’s product and technical strength in the future.
Top Group ordered 21 die-casting units in September 2021, including 7200T, 4500T and 2000T die-casting equipment of different scales, which is expected to increase the production capacity of integrated die-casting parts; the 2700T die-casting machine at Chervon Automobile’s Nanjing headquarters has entered mass production The 5000T die-casting machine is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter for mass production. In addition, the company has purchased a number of large-scale die-casting equipment in the Ma’anshan production base. The Hungarian factory will also deploy die-casting equipment to lay a solid foundation for the release of production capacity. ; Aikedi announced in January 2022 that it plans to issue 1.6 billion yuan of convertible bonds, and part of the raised funds will be used to introduce domestic and foreign medium and large precision die-casting units ranging from 800T to 8400T.
As the penetration rate of new energy vehicles continues to increase, the scale of lightweight and integrated die castings for automobiles will continue to expand, and companies that deploy lightweight and integrated die castings will benefit. Entering the production capacity release stage, the increase in capacity utilization rate will promote the improvement of profitability, and investors can continue to pay attention.