The debate on whether to use more steel or aluminum in automobiles took center stage a decade ago as automakers moved to lighten cars to meet new government requirements to extend how far vehicles must travel on a gallon of gas. Aluminum seized a watershed moment when Ford Motor Co. chose to outfit the nation’s top-selling F-150 truck with the metal, improving its per-gallon efficiency on the highway by 29% from the older steel-bodied model.
Steel has traditionally been a favored metal due to its high strength and low cost. The benchmark steel price is 39 cents a pound, whereas aluminum costs almost three times that at $1.10 per pound. Still, the metals discourse is being revived as automakers shift to produce more EVs amid a global push to transition economies from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy sources to help fight climate change.
Batteries are the heaviest part of EVs and generate a massive amount of heat, which makes aluminum an attractive material to both lighten the vehicle and encase the battery with a metal that can withstand high temperatures without melting. But the steel industry made major adjustments years ago in response to the light-weighting revolution by developing so-called advanced high-strength steels that are stronger than aluminum and can match it in weight.
Cleveland-Cliffs Chief Executive Officer Lourenco Goncalves said Monday that EV companies are going “all-in” on steel as they build out plans for the transition away from combustion-engine vehicles. The comment carries significance given that Cliffs is the largest steel provider to the US auto market, and a metal supplier to GM, Ford, Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Mercedes-Benz AG.
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