Novelis, Shape Corp., and Metalsa Partner to Redefine EV Battery Enclosures
Written by: Jamie Zinser, Vice President, Automotive, Novelis North America
To meet growing demands for green mobility, three elite suppliers have come together to advance sustainable, high-performance solutions for the automobile industry’s electric vehicle (EV) sector.
Novelis, Shape Corp., and Metalsa are now collaborating, testing, learning and advancing aluminum roll form-intensive EV battery tray concepts.
The partnership between Novelis, Shape Corp., and Metalsa aims to improve EV battery enclosures in design, quality, weight, and go-to-market speed. The collaboration combines expertise in advanced roll forming, next-generation alloy development, and precision assembly, providing Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) with specialized knowledge in these areas.
- Novelis is the global leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, specializing in the production of high-recycled flat-rolled aluminum products;
- Shape Corp. is a prominent manufacturer of advanced, lightweight metal components, primarily for automobiles;
- Metalsa is a global leader in product and process design, development and manufacturing of structural components for the Automotive and Commercial Vehicles mobility industries.
The partnership will utilize Novelis’ high-recycled content alloys to reduce weight and increase product strength, contributing to a more sustainable final product. Novelis recently announced its 3×30 goals with commitments to decarbonize operations, increase recycled content in all products, and invest in a circular economy.
With the leadership of Shape Corp. and Metalsa, EV battery enclosure technology will now utilize multi-cellular structures to optimize energy absorption, incorporate flexible part design to enable tooling reuse over multiple platforms, apply precision assembly methods to ensure quality and minimize variances, and employ new bending strategies to enhance part formability and structural integrity.
Through Shape Corp.’s best-in-class material utilization and closed-section profiles, the codeveloped EV battery enclosure can realize lower mass and increase structural efficiency.
Metalsa’s rigorous testing processes, including front- and side-impact resistance, leak detection, and structural integrity assessments, guarantee the enclosures will meet stringent safety and performance standards.
With an eye on the future, adaptability and diversification, together, Novelis, Shape Corp. and Metalsa have a proven track record of rapidly advancing prototype technologies, which will shorten product realization cycles and promote faster in-market timing.
Read more from our partners at Shape Corp.
###
