Steel E-Motive
Future Mobility Only Steel Can Make Real
How Steel E‑Motive Can Support Vehicle Manufacturers
Global vehicle manufacturers face complex challenges in their advanced vehicle designs – reducing CO₂, controlling cost, meeting evolving safety standards and delivering vehicles optimised for both electrification and autonomy.
Steel E‑Motive was developed to address these challenges in an integrated way, providing clear, engineering‑led evidence of how steel enables scalable solutions for future autonomous vehicle programmes.
Steel E‑Motive is built around a single, modular platform that supports multiple vehicle variants, enabling OEMs to explore flexible architectures while retaining manufacturing efficiency and cost control.
Steel E-Motive Key Innovations
Using the newest steel grades and fabrication processes, Steel E-Motive’s body structures incorporate seven AHSS Structural innovations:
- B-Pillarless, one-box open body structure provides a wider door aperture for easy ingress/egress, disabilities access, and facilitates delivery services.
- AHSS Extended Passenger Protection Zone provides excellent intrusion protection for rear-facing passengers.
- Short Front Crash Zone structure meets the most stringent global crash requirements. Dual Phase (DP) Tailor Welded Blanks enable efficient design.
- Small Offset Crash Glance Beam minimises cabin intrusion and lowers crash pulse while preserving door ring and battery in 64 kph small overlap rigid barrier simulations.
- Virtual B-Pillars are integrated into the doors, creating a compact section for better passenger visibility and improving passenger access. Bake Hardenable steel’s Class A-quality surface combined with a scissor door design enables complete elimination of the body side outer for mass and cost savings.
- (Rocker) Hex beam energy absorbers, made of roll-formed DP steel, are low cost, compact, and mass efficient, minimising side crash intrusion and achieving superior battery protection.
- Industry-First Battery Carrier Frame eliminates the conventional battery case, utilising the existing floor as the top cover, and features an AHSS triple-skinned bottom cover that seals the battery and provides protection from road debris and jacking errors. These efficiencies result in 37% mass savings and 27% lower cost and can be assembled offline for efficient vehicle integration.
Resources
As with previous steel industry demonstration programmes, Steel E-Motive results, data, and CAD models are given freely to automotive manufacturers and others around the world to study and apply its learnings and innovations to produce a new generation of efficient, economic, and sustainable vehicles.
Steel E-Motive Engineering Report
Steel E-Motive Microstudies are technical engineering bulletins that highlight in more detail key design and performance innovations from the flagship programme.
