麻豆传媒

Chevrolet Blazer EV customers are likely to cite the Ultium battery and dual-motor driveline as their vehicle鈥檚 most advanced technologies. But in doing so, they鈥檇 miss an equally key aspect of GM鈥檚 sporty midsize electric SUV: its steel-intensive body structure featuring a broad mix of alloys and an impact-defying battery enclosure.

The words 鈥榮teel鈥� and 鈥楤EV鈥� seem incongruent, given the widely forecasted trend toward aluminum architectures based on two or three large castings. GM itself has invested heavily in the Tesla-pioneered 鈥榞igacasting鈥� tech and will deploy it first in Cadillac鈥檚 new, ultra-exclusive (and much-delayed)聽Celestiq flagship.聽But GM鈥檚 electrification strategy depends on a variety of material and body-structure solutions. It鈥檚 a horses-for-courses approach aimed at balancing performance and product affordability, explained Blazer EV鈥檚 chief engineer Hoda Eiliat.

鈥淚n GM鈥檚 materials position, steel is obviously the most cost-effective approach,鈥� Eiliat declared in her keynote at the 2024 Great Designs in Steel conference. Innovations in new alloys, metal forming and joining technologies continue to drive steel鈥檚 competitiveness, she told SAE Media following her presentation, adding that 鈥渙bviously we have to look elsewhere when we have mass and parts-consolidation priorities.鈥�

Read the full article by Lindsay Brooke .