Editor's Pick – Page 7
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ArticleNorthvolt selects northern Germany for its third European gigafactory
The Swedish battery cell manufacturer is ramping up capacity to build battery cells with a 60 GWh capacity plant in Heide, Germany.
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ArticleWatch: Packing the power in battery system production
Increasing EV battery output is essential to automotive electrification targets. Watch this AMS Automotive Evolution Livestream on-demand about ramping up the battery value chain, from raw material risk through to lithium-ion cell and battery module producton. Featuring experts from Scania, Verkor, S&P Global, Henkel and Recharge.
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ArticleMegacasting: a chance to rethink body manufacturing
The aluminium die-casting process could revolutionise body construction. Professor Wolfram Volk, the department head for forming technology and casting at the Technical University of Munich, explains the advantages and disadvantages of so-called ‘mega’- or ‘gigacasting’.
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ArticleThe leaders of the pack
Producing battery enclosures and packs is an important part of EV assembly, and manufacturers are focused on better standardising and inspecting parts to improve automation and quality. Jason Dunn reports from the AMS Evolution Summit held online in December
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ArticleAn electric shock to the system
Italvolt founder Lars Carlstrom has a mission to scale up EV battery production in Europe with a new factory in Italy – and a blueprint for scaling up gigafactory development. He speaks to Christopher Ludwig and Daniel Harrison
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VideoBetter than the real thing: digital factory simulations
Increasing production of battery enclosures at scale will be essential to launching EVs in line with targets. ABB’s Patrick Matthews and Zeiss’s Paulo Cruz discuss automation and quality control opportunities.
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ArticleHow the industrial cloud creates solutions opportunities for ZF production
ZF Group’s CDO, René Deist, told the Automotive Manufacturing Evolution Summit how its industrial cloud integration strategy would enhance the use of AI and capacity planning across the tier one supplier’s 200 plants.
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NewsBMW’s Munich plant adapted for EV manufacturing
The first series-produced BMW i4 has rolled off the line at the OEM’s Munich plant in the first step in the German carmaker’s goal to turn at least half of its output into electrified vehicles by 2023.
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ArticleWolfspeed ahead for GM’s Ultium Drive supply
GM has signed supplier agreement with US electronic subcomponents supplier Wolfspeed (formerly Cree) to secure the supply of silicon carbide devices that the carmaker said will enable it to install more efficient propulsion systems for its electric vehicles (EVs).
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ArticleToyota to produce hydrogen fuel cell modules for trucks in Kentucky from 2023
Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky will become a production centre for the company’s dual fuel cell development, serving commercial vehicles.
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ArticleVolvo Trucks buys Chinese manufacturing site to expand heavy duty truck manufacturing
As part of the company’s broader plans to develop global reach, Volvo has acquired JMC Heavy Duty Vehicle to produce and sell more heavy-duty trucks in China.
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ArticleNissan and Envision AESC to build new EV battery plant in Japan - reports
Nissan Motor will reportedly build a lithium-ion battery plant in Japan to support EV production as part of a joint investment project with battery manufacturer Envision AESC.
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ArticleDriving home the reality of global market changes: Honda Swindon factory closes
Honda has closed its Swindon, UK plant, as it ends European production. The carmaker is focusing electric vehicle investment and scale in Asia, and is a sign of how electrification could reshape manufacturing footprints.
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ArticleA production transformation that will last 20 years at Volkswagen
Christian Vollmer at Volkswagen discusses how virtual tools have helped production move during the pandemic, why cross-plant collaboration has accelerated and VW’s evolving manufacturing strategies to ramp up EV production.
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ArticleLightweighting the EV is a challenge to celebrate
There is a new impetus to save weight as vehicles become powered by electric powertrains. Reducing the weight of a vehicle by optimising the mix of materials and the application in design is now a key focus.
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ArticleElectrification and digitalisation go hand in hand at Ford and VW
As the automotive industry electrifies, manufacturing is changing dramatically and OEMs are using big data to keep pace with that change. Increasingly moving into the world of tech, old quality control processes may no longer suffice since a lot of EV components cannot be reworked like traditional equivalents. Manufacturing has to be ultra-precise like never before.
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ArticleVW and Ford invest in flexible production for an uncertain future
The speed of change in the technology of cars and rapid electrification requires new manufacturing equipment and is making expensive old machines redundant, but exactly where the industry is going next is hard to predict. More flexible manufacturing is the answer.
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ArticleCellular manufacturing adds flexibility in Mercedes-Benz bodyshop
For the production of the new C-class, Mercedes has taken the opportunity to add flexibility by way of cellular manufacturing in the body shop and with so-called ‘TecLines’ for assembly.
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NewsVW to have 240 GWh of battery plants in Europe by 2030
Volkswagen Group plans to significantly increase battery cell production capacity and reshape the EV battery supply chain in Europe, with plans to have six ‘gigafactories’ by the end of the decade – including an expansion of its partnership with Sweden’s Northvolt.
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ArticlePlaying catch-up in plastics recycling for automotive production
A closed loop for plastics in the automotive industry has so far been a distant dream, as an unmanageable variety of mixed materials makes recycling them into new high-quality materials unviable. Fortunately, there are some promising new approaches on the horizon.