Lightweight materials help the development of new energy vehicles

Since the end of May, the agency has gradually increased its research efforts on lightweight materials companies such as aluminum-magnesium alloys. A few days ago, SASAC Director Xiao Yaqing met with Alcoa’s chairman and also pointed out that China has great market potential in the field of high-quality lightweight metals. In the context of the rapid development of new energy vehicles, through the use of lightweight metal materials, the weight of electric vehicles can be reduced, thereby increasing endurance. According to agency calculations, the demand for aluminum-magnesium alloys is expected to grow rapidly by 2020, among which the aluminum alloy market will exceed 250 billion yuan, and the average annual compound growth rate of magnesium alloy demand will reach 80%.

Magnesium alloy is the lightest kind of commonly used metal structural materials, and its density is about 2/3 that of aluminum and 1/4 that of steel. Compared with aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy has excellent die-casting performance, good heat dissipation performance, high strength and strong shock absorption ability. Magnesium alloys are mainly used in automobile steering wheels, instrument panels, front end brackets and powertrain components. According to my country’s automobile production in 2020, 36 million vehicles, 5 million new energy vehicles, and the average use of aluminum alloys and magnesium alloys for bicycles reaching 160kg and 30kg, the annual demand for automotive aluminum alloys will reach 5.76 million tons, a compound annual growth rate. The rate is about 20%. The annual demand for magnesium alloys in automobiles will reach 1.08 million tons, while the total domestic consumption of magnesium alloys in 2014 was less than 400,000 tons.

From the perspective of aluminum alloy materials, new energy vehicles use all-aluminum bodies to increase the endurance of the car through weight reduction, reduce battery costs, and make the manufacturing cost of the entire vehicle lower. The agency estimates that the use space of aluminum alloy in a car can reach up to 540kg, which can reduce the weight of the car by 40%. The mass of the traditional car body accounts for about 30% to 40% of the mass of the whole vehicle, and it has become the main application part of aluminum alloy lightweight. According to research data from Chinalco, the average amount of aluminum used by bicycles in China in 2014 reached 92kg, while the amount of aluminum used by bicycles in Europe and the United States reached 150kg. According to the calculation of 40,000 yuan/ton of automotive aluminum alloy, by 2020, the market size of automotive aluminum alloy will exceed 250 billion yuan.

Yunhai Metal (18.19 +2.83%, buy) is a leading company in magnesium alloys. At present, there are not many companies producing high-strength magnesium alloys in batches. The company’s projects can be put into mass production after passing customer certification.

Wanfeng Aowei (16.10 -0.74%, buy) subsidiary Wanfeng Magnesium Reading, as a global leader in the magnesium alloy industry, focuses on the field of transportation, and its magnesium alloy auto parts market share in North America reaches 65% Above, the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary in Xinchang and investment in the construction of an annual output of 700,000 sets of instrument panel frames and 10 million sets of steering column projects will help increase the market share of new lightweight magnesium alloy materials and help avoid the risk of trade barriers. .