Bullets:

Large frames, such as those used to build passenger cars, trucks, and buses, are typically made up of several pieces, which are welded or riveted together.

The result is a frame that is costly and time-consuming to manufacture, with weak points at the seams and joints.

A Chinese company, Hantek, has pioneered a technique that allows molten aluminum to fill large molds, even across different thicknesses. Their single frame is stronger, costs less, weighs less, and is safer during crashes.

BYD is perhaps the most vertically integrated company in the world, yet they are using Hantek frames for their new lineup of SUV’s.

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Report:

Good morning.

The changes sweeping across China’s industrial sectors are not merely those of incremental improvements, that add up to monumental advantages over time. They are often quantum leaps forward in manufacturing efficiencies, and proficiencies. And the advantages that come from those are immediate and enduring.

Previously we reported that Japan hosted a showcase for cars built by top brands from across the world, and executives there were shocked when they saw models from BYD and Nio taken apart. Large Chinese manufacturers have very high degrees of vertical integration—almost everything is done in-house for China’s carmakers—and they also noted high levels of integration across different models. Chinese cars have fewer parts, it takes less time to build them, and they also weigh less.

We pointed out that this is yet another example of an industrial revolution taking place, in plain sight, and the people who are lavishly paid to understand what is going on in their own industry were unaware until it was too late that China had already taken it over.

This is a luxury SUV from BYD. BYD primarily builds all-electric vehicles, but this newest model has 4 electric motors and a regular engine. What is also unique is that it is a single frame, built by Hantek, a Chinese company that builds aluminum chassis. So that is another difference in this model vehicle, in that BYD uses an outside supplier to design and build their chassis system.

Typically, vehicle frames are welded or riveted together in pieces, and doing so involves more cost and factory time. The frame is also weaker at those joints, which is a hit to safety and durability. Hantek improved how molten aluminum fills the molds, in the areas where different sections have different thicknesses.

That is a lot harder that it sounds, and Interesting Engineering picked up the story, and explains here that in a single casting process these varying thicknesses are difficult to pull off. But the result from Hantek is a single frame that is stronger, and safer in event of an accident. And one casting process, for a single structure, means lower cost and faster builds.

Naturally Hantek and other firms will deploy this process across other designs of cars and trucks, and for more companies besides just BYD, and for other industries besides just auto manufacturing.

Be Good.

Resources and links:

Japanese teardowns of Chinese electric vehicles by BYD and Nio stun car parts executives in Nagoya

‘World-first’ one-piece aluminium frame for EVs launched by two Chinese companies

https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/world-first-one-piece-aluminium-ev-frame

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