What is an Electric Vehicle?

Electric Vehicles (EV) are vehicles that are partially or fully powered by electric power. They are environmentally friendly as there is almost no fossil fuel consumption. They cost less to maintain because EVs have fewer parts than gas vehicles. Overall, there are about 2000 parts in internal combustion engines, whereas electric drivetrains have about 20 parts.

Why powder metallurgy is important for EV industry?

Automobile manufacturers cannot manufacture automotive products without metal powders. Metal powders define the characteristics of the finished product. Powder metallurgy (PM) allows manufacturers to offer a wide range of customizations to specific application requirements. The sintering process provides excellent strength and durability.
When it involves smaller parts, PM is the best choice. As EVs develop towards electrification, higher requirements for material made PM successfully implemented in the EV industry. And as we move into the future of the electric transmission system, powder metallurgy plays an important role in the manufacturing industry.

Opportunities for the future: Lightweight materials

Heavier vehicles are less efficient and produce more tread wear on tires. With the transformation of green energy, the demand for light material has increased tremendously. Powder metallurgy (PM) is able to create lighter components over traditionally forged alternatives. Over the other metal forming technology, this process is in the advantages of material utilization, shape complexity, controlled porosity, etc.
It is easy to manufacture high melting point materials and composite materials.
With PM processing, the products are uniformly formed and alloying elements can be added to the raw materials to enhance the performance of the products. Here, Rainbow Ming will talk about the trending metal powdered components for the EV market currently:

Soft Magnetic Composite (SMC)

SMCs encompasses high-purity iron powder particles, along with a thin layer of insulating material. They improve the magnetic performance of motors due to their insulating film make them being high electrical resistance, good thermal resistance and reducing the eddy-current losses. Isotropic magnetic behavior makes them made into electric circuit three-dimensional (3D) path that make the design of circuit and motor core more flexible and innovative. SMCs have begun to enter a period of rapid growth in incremental application fields such as electric vehicles, charging piles, sensors, automobile ABS systems, satellite measuring instrument, electric motor, positioning technology, pulse transformers, electric actuators, and energy storage due to their flexibility produces smaller and lighter electronics. Besides, they are mostly used for net-shaping production due to their have lower waste and fewer process, which are also good for environment protection and energy saving. Lots of motor magnetic cores and other automobile components were made from them.
Rainbow Ming has been proudly producing SMC parts for many years, and we are confident in our product quality. Taken together, there are many advantages of them, therefore they play an important role in this era of new electronics and technologies looking for lighten, power saving, and minify products.

Copper Alloy

Pure copper is second only to silver, whereas it costs much lower than silver. EVs require more copper than a traditional gas vehicle. Copper is an important component for their green energy. The amount of copper used to power an automobile has increased.
Copper powder can be manufactured into complex-shaped electrical components through a metal injection molding process, and this product has good electrical and thermal conductivity.

Aluminum Matrix Composite (AMC)

AMCs are metal matrix composites which the aluminum is reinforced with high-performance ceramics. They are stronger than steel and less than half the weight and 300 per cent stronger than carbon fiber. Capable of withstanding severe damage, better braking performance, greater safety, and lower repair costs. The many advantages of AMCs make them a new favorite of the new energy vehicle industry.

Conclusions

Now we have known about PM, its importance and materials. In summary, with the development of lightweight automobiles, and lightweight materials, the applications of PM parts are also in advance with the time.
As one of leading manufacturers of powder metallurgy parts in Taiwan, Rainbow Ming has been committed to the development of metal powder materials and production techniques to meet the various demand of different industries. If you have more question about powder metallurgy or need a quote, please do not hesitate to contact us.