The 2018 North American International Auto Show brought the biggest names in the auto industry together for a show and tell. (Source: News Atlas)

Continuing on what we saw during the past few years, the focus this year again was on improving safety, performance and design, all at the lightest weight possible for fuel economy. While there have been debates in the past about the best lightweight material, there was a clear winner at this year’s NAIAS. Almost every car, including the 2018 Car of the Year, was clad in advanced high-strength steel (AHHS) and significantly lighter than their predecessors.

Take a look at some of this year’s steel-clad cars.

SEE ALSO: 5 Reasons Why AHSS Tops the Market for Lightweight Auto Materials

2018 Car of the Year: Honda Accord

The 2018 Honda Accord took home the prestigious title of Car of the Year due to its lightweight and improved strength and performance. The 2018 model contains 29 percent ultra-high-strength steel (UHSS) in its chassis and 54.2 percent high strength steel (HSS). With these applications, the Honda Accord achieved a weight reduction of 110 to 176 pounds while improving its body torsional rigidity by 32 percent and its bending rigidity by 24 percent.

2019 Chevy Silverado

The all-new Chevy Silverado comes armed with plenty of steel. One of the features that contribute to its improved safety is the bed floor made of roll-formed HSS. Also, 80 percent of its fully-boxed steel frame is made of HSS and AHSS forms the Silverado’s safety cage. Overall, the new model is taller and 7 inches wider than before. Nevertheless, the all-new Silverado is 450 pounds lighter with a 10 percent increase in torsional rigidity than the previous model.

2019 Dodge Ram 1500

The 2019 Dodge Ram 1500 is another steel-intensive vehicle revealed at NAIAS. About 98 percent of this year’s model is made from HSS, and is the lightest, longest and most efficient frame in the half-ton truck segment. The wheelbase and crew cab is 4 inches longer than the previous model. The Dodge Ram 1500 also has several new safety features. The unique front-splayed frame rail technology, frame-mounted HSS tire blockers and fully-boxed side rails allow the car to absorb more energy in case of impact and minimize structural damage.

2019 Kia Forte

The 2019 Kia Forte is taller, wider and longer than before with 54 percent of its chassis made of AHSS. It also has a 16 percent stiffer body-in-white and the new seat frames are lighter yet stronger as Kia has its eyes on top ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the second consecutive year. The lighter and stronger vehicle will consume about 9 to 20 percent less fuel as well as drop noise levels by 5 decibels.

Why the Steel Overload?

As mentioned above, the latest cars are steel-intensive and automakers increasing the amount of HSS, UHSS and AHSS in their mix of materials. Of course, the main reason for this is steel’s innate properties that make it the ideal solution for automakers looking to cut back on weight and still satisfy safety standards. However, automakers also learned a good lesson from automakers who chose another popular lightweight material – aluminum.

SEE ALSO: Materials Matter: Why Steel Beats Aluminum in the Sustainability Debate

Back in 2014, Ford released its F-150 with an all-aluminum body. The move was bold and the cars sold fast as it was a whole 700 pounds lighter than previous models. Consumers got to drive away with a drastically improved fuel economy, but it didn’t take long for them to realize the big, expensive problem with aluminum bodies: repairs.

The 2015 Ford F-150 has an all-aluminum body. (Source: Hennessey Performance)

Although steel and aluminum are similar in terms of its lightweight properties, aluminum reacts differently than steel under heat. Aluminum does not have metal memory, while steel does, making it hard to reshape and repair following an accident. Welding aluminum also takes much more skill and precision than steel, and there are few repair shops that are equipped to handle aluminum. As a result, drivers not only have a hard time finding repair shops for their aluminum cars, they have to pay a hefty price for repairs compared to repairs for steel cars. For example, Jalopnik reported one of the first cases of the F-150 repairs back in 2015 cost USD 17,000 and a month-long repair time.

Of course, this was a rare case highlighting the steep learning curve of repairing aluminum vehicles, but it also highlights the fact that steel is still the norm when it comes to automotive materials, and judging from the 2018 NAIAS, it’s going to stay that way for quite some time.

Cover photo courtesy of Honda of Lincoln.

POSCO’s innovations in steel technology have long supplied material solutions for the automotive industry. Last year, POSCO sold approximately 9 million tons of automotive steel sheets, accounting for 10% of the global automotive steel sheet market. In 2017, POSCO’s focus on providing customers with the most advanced, high-quality steel continues with POSCO GIGA STEEL.

POSCO GIGA STEEL, the Beginning of a New Era

POSCO GIGA STEEL represents the apex of steel technology as it is lightweight, strong, and highly formable – exactly what automakers are looking for. Innovations in POSCO’s manufacturing processes reduce both its production emissions and price, making it a more sustainable and affordable option for car makers compared to other lightweight materials. See how POSCO GIGA STEEL is opening a new era for automotive steel in the video below.

POSCO GIGA STEEL Provides Strength & Safety

Automotive steel is categorized according to its tensile strength. POSCO GIGA STEELS fall into the highest category, which includes steels with a tensile strength rated at more than 1 GPa (Gigapascal), meaning it can withstand more than 100 kilograms-force per square millimeter. In the past, steels with tensile strength ratings this high have been problematic for automakers as they had low ductility and elongation properties.

What makes POSCO GIGA STEEL the ideal material for automakers is its ability to both bend and withstand an immense amount of weight and pressure. POSCO’s ultra high strength giga steel has up to three times more formability than other types of comparable steel on the market, making it ideal for manufacturers.

A car’s safety can also be enhanced significantly when POSCO GIGA STEEL is applied to a vehicle’s BIW (body in white) or front and back bumpers. POSCO GIGA STEEL is not only strong but has exceptional shock absorption during impact.

The strength and safety of POSCO GIGA STEEL have been tested and proven to meet the industry’s strictest safety standards. The POSCO Body Concept-Electric Vehicle (PBC-EV) is a lightweight and safe car body for electric vehicles made with POSCO GIGA STEEL. In safety tests, it received “five stars” from the Europe New Car Assessment Program and a “good” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) – the highest ratings one can receive from both organizations.

POSCO’s PBC-EV made with POSCO GIGA STEEL is both safe and lightweight.

POSCO GIGA STEEL Helps Deliver Lightweight & Sustainable Cars

Strict regulations on fuel efficiency and carbon emissions continue to push automakers to look for lighter materials to reduce the overall weight of vehicles. However, because stricter safety regulations typically require using heavier body parts, automakers are looking for both strong and light materials to build their cars. Lightweight solutions can be found in some alternative materials, such as aluminum and carbon fiber composites, but there are some drawbacks. For example, although POSCO GIGA STEEL is heavier than aluminum (when measuring equal parts area and thickness), it is more than three times stronger. Therefore, less of it is needed to manufacture products that are as light or lighter than those made with aluminum.

Car bodies manufactured with POSCO GIGA STEEL and other advanced high strength steels could see a 26% reduction in total weight when compared to cars of the same size with internal combustion engines. Considering that the average body weight of medium-sized cars in the early 2000’s was 280-300 kg, this is a remarkable achievement for automakers today.

Also, based on its life cycle assessment measuring carbon dioxide emissions from production to recycling, POSCO GIGA STEEL performs remarkably well as an eco-friendly material. According to the World Steel Association, steel emits 2.0 to 2.5 kg of carbon emissions when producing 1 kg of material while aluminum emits 11 to 12.6 kg when producing the same amount. Even after production, cumulative greenhouse gas emissions of vehicles made with steel is 10% lower when looking at the full life cycle.

POSCO GIGA STEEL Offers an Affordable Option

In automotive lightweighting, a reverse correlation often exists between price and weight. Lighter materials are typically more expensive and heavier materials usually have a lower price. POSCO GIGA STEEL helps bridge this gap by producing automotive steel that is both lightweight and cost-effective.  

Body parts made of POSCO GIGA STEEL can see significant cost savings. Alternative materials like aluminum can cost anywhere from 2.1 to 3.5 times more than POSCO GIGA STEEL. Additionally, current market prices of alternative materials are not expected to decrease over the next ten years.

Facing increasingly strict regulations, POSCO GIGA STEEL offers an ideal choice for automakers to build stronger, lighter, and more sustainable cars. According to POSCO Research Institute (POSRI), advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) like POSCO GIGA STEEL should see increased demand, accounting for 69% of total steel plates by 2023.

Throughout April & May, The Steel Wire will explore how POSCO is leading the automotive steel market with its innovative steel products like POSCO GIGA STEEL. Don’t miss any of the exciting stories from The Steel Wire – subscribe via email today.