[Courtesy of Hyundai Steel]
SEOUL -- Targeting the rapidly-growing global electric vehicle market, the steel-making unit of South Korea's Hyundai auto group has localized the production of premium high-strength Martensite steel plates with higher flatness and crack-resistance characteristics than ordinary plates. Martensite is a very hard form of steel crystalline structure formed in carbon steels by the rapid cooling of the austenite form of iron.
Steel plates used in the production of electric vehicles (EVs) need to be lighter and stronger to secure the structural integrity of the hull and battery cases. EVs are much heavier than internal combustion engine vehicles of the same class because the weight of battery packs and electric motors combined is heavier than ordinary cars' engine and transmission systems.
Hyundai Steel said in a statement on January 26 that the company has developed its own "Premium 1.5GPa MS (Martensitic)" steel plate for EVs and other eco-friendly vehicles. The company said that the three-millimeter-thick cold-rolled steel product with a tensile strength of 1.5 gigapascals can be used in the production of EV battery cases, bumpers and other reinforcements.
"By supplying our high-strength steel plates to Hyundai, Kia and other global carmakers, we hope to head-start in the global EV materials market," an unnamed Hyundai Steel official was quoted as saying. According to Fortune Business Insights, a global market analyst group, the global market for high-strength steel is projected to reach $54 billion by 2027.
With the development of its 1.5GPa MS steel product, Hyundai Steel said it has entered the ultra-high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet market, which has been monopolized by European and American companies.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
