CPT International 01/2016

COMPANY
Author: Robert Piterek, German Foundry Association, Düsseldorf
“Cast iron and e-mobility are a
perfect match”
The foundry sector can also make money with the production of components for e-vehicles. GF
Automotive, a Division of Georg Fischer AG, has received orders amounting to 50 million euros
What are the prospects for foundry
technology in the age of e-mobility?
This is one of the key questions
facing the sector in the 21st century
given the energy transition, increasingly
stringent environmental legislation,
falling CO 2
limit values, and declining
reserves of fossil fuels. While
some casters have put off examining
this question and ridicule the development
of e-vehicles in view of the
modest growth forecasts, the automotive
industry has hesitantly but
noticeably started producing the first
e-vehicles – Golf GTE, Audi e-tron,
BMW i3, Renault Zoe or Nissan Leaf
are just some of the models that are
on offer, largely as plug-in hybrids
with combustion engines. But cars
with all-electric drives are also gaining
ground – and with ranges of over
150 km are already penetrating domains
that exceed the potentials of
modest city cars.
e-mobility represents
On the supplier side, a few foundries in
Germany have already got involved in
this business – which is highly promising
in the long term. These include
the foundries of the major carmakers,
for example BMW’s light metal foundry
in Landshut, Audi Münchsmünster
and Volkswagen Kassel, as well as
foundry companies such as KS HUAYU
AluTech, Nemak, Magna, Handtmann,
32 Casting Plant & Technology 1/2016
Light-construction parts for weight-optimized vehicles on their way into the blasting plant (Photos: Warren Richardson)