AISI’s Great Designs in Steel Mentioned in Automotive Engineering

Chevrolet Blazer EV customers are likely to cite the Ultium battery and dual-motor driveline as their vehicle’s most advanced technologies. But in doing so, they’d miss an equally key aspect of GM’s sporty midsize electric SUV: its steel-intensive body structure featuring a broad mix of alloys and an impact-defying battery enclosure.

The words ‘steel’ and ‘BEV’ seem incongruent, given the widely forecasted trend toward aluminum architectures based on two or three large castings. GM itself has invested heavily in the Tesla-pioneered ‘gigacasting’ tech and will deploy it first in Cadillac’s new, ultra-exclusive (and much-delayed) Celestiq flagship. But GM’s electrification strategy depends on a variety of material and body-structure solutions. It’s a horses-for-courses approach aimed at balancing performance and product affordability, explained Blazer EV’s chief engineer Hoda Eiliat.

“In GM’s materials position, steel is obviously the most cost-effective approach,” Eiliat declared in her keynote at the 2024 Great Designs in Steel conference. Innovations in new alloys, metal forming and joining technologies continue to drive steel’s competitiveness, she told SAE Media following her presentation, adding that “obviously we have to look elsewhere when we have mass and parts-consolidation priorities.”

Read the full article by Lindsay Brooke here.