A surge in electric vehicle production is ushering in a new era of research on the best methods to recycle used lithium-ion batteries. This article describes existing recycling methods and the work needed to establish a more fully circular economy for lithium-ion batteries.

Fire risk in electric vehicle batteries can be reduced by detecting flaws through nondestructive visualization. Industrial computed tomography (CT scanning) combined with advanced software that makes sense of CT-generated images, allows users to measure voids and particle sizes within electrode active material during the research and development phase, detect delamination and contamination during cell manufacturing, analyze electrical connections and electrolyte fill levels, and provide many other quality-assurance functions that were once impractical or even impossible to perform.

A webinar collaboration between ASM International and the Materials Research Society in 2021 brought together a panel of speakers to discuss the challenges and opportunities on the horizon as electric vehicle designers and manufacturers search for materials with sustainability characteristics.

Automotive manufacturers are making significant investments in the design and development of bioplastics and biocomposites-based components.

The benefits of trace elemental analysis to improve the performance and safety of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles are explored.

The conclusion of this article series reviews the lasting impact of Ford’s extensive use of aluminum on some of its most popular, high-volume vehicles. It addresses future prospects for aluminum auto body sheet (ABS) production and challenges associated with electric vehicle development.

A new high-strength steel developed for cold stamping addresses the challenges presented by materials traditionally used to manufacture electric vehicle components.

This case study measures residual stress on a truck axle housing as it goes through the manufacturing process.

Modeling and simulation are used to solve the problem of folded grooves, a common occurrence during aluminum wheel forging.

Ford’s aluminum F-150 venture was now entering the development phase, with teams in place that would spend the next 18 months designing both the truck and the facilities to produce it.

Ford begins to reassess its capacity to develop and launch an aluminum-intensive platform on its own. This article discusses the planning for the aluminum-bodied F-150 in the context of the difficult economic conditions that Ford and the rest of the industry were operating under during the 2008-2010 period.

As demand for adherence to VDA standards increases, aluminum testing equipment keeps pace. The VDA, or Verband der Automobilindustrie, is the German association of the automotive industry. Typically, the VDA requirements are adaptations to existing ISO standards with more stringent requirements that aim to reduce variability between labs.

Tests conducted on vacuum carburized and quenched shafts identify variables that increase distortion and the magnitude of residual stresses.

Ford Motor Company’s stamping division looks to leap into Industry 4.0 the same way Henry Ford led the transformation from Industry 1.0 to 2.0.

Industry consolidation, lubricant concerns, and springback issues continued to test automakers and materials producers as they worked toward aluminum-intensive vehicles in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

Automakers and aluminum producers make headway in lightweight vehicle development in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Cold spray is uniquely suitable for depositing a wide range of materials over temperature-sensitive substrates. This article is a case study in using cold spray coatings to restore a 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B racing car.

Launching an aluminum vehicle into production is a far greater challenge than building a fleet of prototypes. This installment in the series reviews progress made in the 1990s.

The largest and heaviest component in a car is the body structure, so it was only natural to make this the focus of advanced R&D in the 1970s and 1980s for aluminum auto body applications.

When the first aluminum hood launched in 1977, the mills were delivering rectangular blanks separated by paper to protect the delicate outer surfaces. This article reviews important advances in aluminum forming and heat treating in the latter part of the twentieth century.