THE ELECTRIC REVOLUTION
From Tesla to Uber and pretty much every automotive manufacturer in between, it seems the smart money is on electric vehicles (EV’s). This is also good news for Gränges, according to Colin Xu, President for Gränges Asia.
As sustainable transport is increasingly in the spotlight, statements from vehicles manufactures ranging from Volvo to Scania, Toyota to BMW are all coming into line with government, and non-government thinking— the future must be electric. Battery prices are dropping by about 20 percent a year, and automakers have been spending billions to electrify their fleets. The reputed business and financial services company, Bloomberg, reports (2017) that Volkswagen AG is targeting 25 percent of its sales to be electric by 2025 and Toyota Motor Corporation plans to phase out fossil fuels altogether by 2050.
Says Colin Xu, President Asia Gränges, “Right now, electric vehicles (EV’s) are basically the hottest topic in China, and China is definitely the biggest producer of EV’s in the world today.”
This is significant, given that China is Gränges most important market, due to both market size and growth potential.
Around 50 percent of Gränges’ present sales are to customers in the automotive industry. Over time, by growing with the Chinese automotive market, Gränges has established a strong position in Asia. The internal combustion engine relies on a number of heat exchangers for cooling the engine, transmission mechanisms and engine oil, air conditioning systems, and in some cases, batteries. More modern vehicles typically contain up to ten different heat exchangers. As a result, and as a world leader and global supplier of heat exchanger materials Gränges plays a vital role in modern car production.
“The question – as we move towards EV – is whether the type of heat exchanger will be changed in the electric vehicles, that will, of course, impact the demand of material,” says Xu.
Essentially the material will need to be light, thinner, stronger and with better corrosion performance. Gränges aluminium solutions do fit these requirements. However, nothing is absolutely certain about exactly how tomorrow’s car or mobility solution will look.
Aside from fully battery driven EV’s is the question of ‘the bridging technology’ such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV’s). PHEV’s require a dual system, both an internal combustion engine and a small battery. As Xu explains, “you may need a dual thermal management system to deal with the two systems, so in the short term if the PHEV’s have a boom in growth then, of course, the demand for heat exchanger material will also boom.”
Although the future looks encouraging, Xu is cautious, “There are a lot of uncertainties and the technology is still rather vague so we have to be ready for any eventuality.”
“On the other hand, if we can follow up on the technology side, I think things will go well. I believe the consumption of aluminium will be even more in the future than with the combustion engine that exists today.”
FACTS
The rise of electric cars
· In July 2017, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 59 thousand units and 56 thousand units respectively, increasing 52.6% and 55.2% year on year.
1. By 2030, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will become fully cost-competitive with internal combustion engine cars in Europe, where fuel taxes are estimated to be high and vehicle attributes (namely power) more favourable to electrification than in other regions.
2. Several countries have banned sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040, including France and Britain.
3. Volvo recently announced that all the company’s cars to be electric or hybrid from 2019.
Sources: 2015 China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Global EV Outlook 2017, The International Energy Agency (IEA), The Guardian
