Updated April 27 with on-demand video

Building electric vehicles in high volumes presents challenges but this also drives innovation as OEMs and suppliers ramp-up production. In this Livestream our experts discussed materials, vehicle platform design and development, and manufacturing, sharing insights into challenges, solutions and future opportunities. We discussed trends around materials choices, EV architectures, battery cell and motor packaging, and production processes and technologies.

This session explored the benefits and compromises of platform flexibility versus production efficiency. We also considered the demand for a shortened time-to-market in development projects and how this is being achieved, plus new manufacturing innovations in vehicle architectures such as additive manufacturing and ‘giga-casting and stamping’ of body structures.

Key topics discussed included:

  • Platform choices:  Creating flexible platforms to meet different segment requirements
  • Forming/Joining:  Giga-casting and stamping – joining solutions
  • Materials:  New steel and aluminium grades – modelling material performance – multi-material structures 

Speakers:

Paul Belanger
R&D Director North America
Gestamp

Mr. Belanger leads a team of Body engineers developing products and new technologies from Gestamp’s North American R&D Center. Paul started his career in the steel industry before moving into automotive with Chrysler’s Materials Engineering and Ram Truck Body Engineering. Later, at GM, he headed a Manufacturing Engineering team providing expertise with critical stampings and complex assemblies. Mr. Belanger has been using his 30+ years of automotive body and materials engineering experience to drive the development and optimum application of advanced sheet metal products into automotive vehicle production.

Jerome Favero

Jérôme Favero
Head of Automotive Steel Solutions
ArcelorMittal – Global R&D

Jérôme Favero has worked in ArcelorMittal Global R&D for 11 years. Today, as Head of Automotive Steel Solution, he is in charge of piloting engineering and global R&D activities for generic automotive solutions and customer supports, including sustainability and additive manufacturing. Jérôme started his career as R&D engineer in Hot Stamping and then worked as resident engineer in close relationship with German car manufacturers.

Moderator:

Nick Holt
Editor
Automotive Manufacturing Solutions, Ultima Media

With over 20 years’ experience covering the automotive industry, Nick is responsible for editorial across Automotive Manufacturing Solutions. He has gained wide experience in automotive production operations, visiting OEM and tier supplier factories in Europe, India, China and the US.

Hosted in Partnership With

At ArcelorMittal, our goal is to help build a better world with smarter steels. Steels made using innovative processes which are more efficient, use less energy, and emit significantly less carbon. Steels that are cleaner, stronger and reusable. Steels for electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure that will support societies as they transform through this century.

We foster this culture of innovation by putting research and development at the heart of our operations. We have some of the best and brightest people in the business – engineers who work for us because they get to tackle the most complex of problems.