Automotive News Canada - June 2023 - 16

16
* JUNE 2023
Linamar's weighting game
CEO Linda Hasenfratz
thinks the supplier can
make an EV impact by
producing lighter parts
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
LINAMAR CORP. IS PUSHING
into uncharted territory as it pursues
growth in the rapidly expanding electric-vehicle
market.
The Canadian parts producer
announced plans May 10 to build
a plant in Welland, Ont., that will
use three high-pressure die-cast
machines to produce large aluminum
components for EVs.
They will be the first
giga presses installed
by a supplier in North
America, Linamar said,
adding that it has beat
suppliers in Europe
to the punch. Such
presses are in use elsewhere,
such as China.
The 300,000-squarefoot
(28,000-square-metre)
plant will employ
SCAN
TO LISTEN
about 200 workers and is scheduled
to open in 2025, adding to Linamar's
Ontario manufacturing footprint concentrated
around its headquarters in
Guelph.
Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz
discussed with Automotive News
Canada how the new plant fits
into the company's EV strategy.
Responses have been edited for
clarity and length.
WHAT DO GIGA CASTINGS OFFER
THE AUTO INDUSTRY?
Electric vehicles have a weight
issue, so lightweighting is a really
important part of making the vehicles
as efficient as they can be. We're offsetting
the weight of that heavy battery
pack, which is
800 to 1,000 kilograms
that you're hauling
around with you.
Having these very
large castings make
up more and more of
the structure of the
vehicle plays a really important role
because they're significantly reducing
the weight of the stamped-steel assemblies
that would otherwise be used.
Depending on the part, they will save
25 to 45 per cent in terms of weight.
WHAT CUSTOMER INTEREST ARE YOU
SEEING FOR GIGA CASTINGS?
We're seeing already significant
interest in this capacity, given it is
the first supplier investment in North
America. We have our first program
starting in 2025, but we have a lot of
other opportunities in the pipeline.
We're pretty confident in our ability
to fill this facility in short order.
It comes back to the growth of electrified
vehicles, the need for lightweighting
and just the realization of
the amount of weight savings that
you get.
TESLA IS ONE WELL-KNOWN USER OF GIGA
CASTINGS. ARE YOU GETTING INTEREST
FROM BOTH UPSTART EV MAKERS AND
LEGACY AUTOMAKERS?
Absolutely. Everybody's interested
in the technology because electrified
vehicles are where the future is going.
The Canadian company's
new giga-castings facility
is touted as a first for a
supplier in North America.
While it could signal a
revolution, it's also a risk
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
Hasenfratz: Large giga castings
are 25 to 45 per cent lighter than
stamped-steel alternatives, and
lowering weight of EVs is the goal
of every automaker. FILE PHOTO
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE ONTARIO
FOR THIS NEW PLANT?
Pretty high on the list is the energy
grid. We're at 94-per-cent clean energy
in Ontario, so this is where we should
be doing anything that is at all energy-intensive.
Obviously, if you're melting
metal, that's going to use energy.
You want to do that somewhere that
the footprint of the energy production
is as clean as possible. I think that's
really important because it means that
you're not putting a big carbon cost on
the parts that are going into vehicles
that are all about trying to reduce global
emissions.
Canada also brings a lot of really
strong things to the table in terms of
manufacturing. We've got a great education
system, we've got a great talent
pool, we have a country that is actively
focused on immigration to bring more
talent in to help us build the jobs that
we're creating.
WHAT DREW THE COMPANY TO WELLAND
IN PARTICULAR?
We were looking at a variety of sites
around Ontario. We wanted it within
a certain radius because parts of
this size, you don't really want to be
shipping very far. So we wanted something
that was going to be in a location
that we could maximize opportunities
with the most customers. Then it was
about land availability, land cost, development
fees and the supportive local
team.
HOW QUICKLY IS THE PACE OF EV ADOPTION
SHIFTING LINAMAR'S BUSINESS?
The majority of our sales as soon as
2026 or 2027 are already for either electrified
vehicles or propulsion-agnostic
parts (that are not related to propulsion
or work for both internal-combustion
vehicles and EVs). It was only a
few years ago that that percentage was
more like 22 or 23 per cent. So in a matter
of five or six years, it's shifted pretty
dramatically. That's pretty exciting,
and it's all a factor of new business that
we're winning and opportunities that
we're quoting.
LINAMAR IS GOING IN-HOUSE FOR ITS
GIGA-CASTING CAPABILITY. ARE YOU ALSO
LOOKING AT ACQUISITIONS TO BOOST
YOUR EV BUSINESS?
Acquisition is another great potential
area where we can add to the product
portfolio and continue to build that
EV or propulsion-agnostic percentage
of our business. The more products
that we have the capability to produce
that are propulsion-agnostic, the better.
It just helps us grow that percentage,
which is the goal. So, yeah, I think
there are for sure interesting opportunities
out there. - ANC
A PLANNED HIGH-PRESSURE DIEcasting
plant by Linamar Corp. in
Welland, Ont., is part of an industrywide
" re-evaluation " of how vehicles are built
in the EV era, says an industry analyst.
The past few years have been something
akin to opening " Pandora's box, "
said Sam Fiorani, vice-president of global
vehicle forecasting at U.S.-based
AutoForecast Solutions.
" Since Tesla opened the door, everyone's
looking at new ways to save money
on castings, on production,
everything down
the line to dealerships, "
he said.
Fiorani:
Large
castings
provide
benefits
for EV
construction,
but collision
damage
could be
more difficult,
perhaps
impossible,
to repair.
FILE PHOTO
High-pressure die-casting
is not new, but using
the process to make large
structural components
is a recent development.
Tesla pioneered the use
of giga presses to produce
the rear underbody
of its Model Y in 2020.
The exact point
at which die-casting
machines become " giga "
is up for debate, Linamar
CEO Linda Hasenfratz
told Automotive News
Canada. But with a
clamping force of 6,100
tons (5,500 kilograms), no
one will be questioning
whether the Canadian
supplier's three presses
destined for Welland make the cut.
" We're the first supplier to invest
in the giga-size, high-pressure die-cast
technology in either North America
or Europe, so we feel like it gives us a
market leadership opportunity here, "
Hasenfratz said.
THE FIRST CUSTOMER
Linamar is scheduled to begin shipments
of the large aluminum components
for its first contract in early 2025,
Hasenfratz said. She would not identify
the customer but noted that Welland, at
the eastern tip of southern Ontario, was
chosen because of its proximity to several
assembly plants.
" Parts of this size, you don't really want
to be shipping very far, " she said. " So we
wanted something that was going to be in
a location that we could maximize opportunities
with the most customers. "
The Welland plant will be in close proximity
to numerous Detroit Three plants
(Stellantis)
Oakville (Ford)
Cambridge
(Toyota)
Cambridge
(Toyota)
St. Catharines
Woodstock
(Toyota)
Welland
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WHY WELLAND?
The location was chosen by Linamar because of
its proximity to Ontario auto production, said CEO
Linda Hasenfratz. So far, the supplier has one
customer, which it would not name, for its
giga castings. Linamar is based in Guelph.
Alliston
(Honda)
Oshawa
(General
Motors)
in Canada as well as Toyota and Honda
plants, Fiorani said. Shipping to assembly
sites in the Detroit area is also feasible,
he said. And if the parts are loaded onto
ships, that would open further opportunities
with the Detroit Three and several
startups in Ohio.
While Tesla is a well-known user of
large cast components, Fiorani said, the
EV maker is unlikely to be Linamar's
buyer. The automaker's vehicle assembly
is too far from Welland, he said, and Tesla
is proud of its casting ability. That makes
it unlikely to outsource production.
'PRETTY CONFIDENT'
While Guelph, Ont.-based Linamar
highlighted just one contract, it has few
concerns about securing enough orders to
fill the new plant.
" We have a lot of other opportunities
in the pipeline, " Hasenfratz said. " We're
pretty confident in our ability to fill this
facility in short order.
" It comes back to the growth of electrified
vehicles, the need for lightweighting
and just the realization of the amount of
weight savings that you get from stamped
steel assemblies [versus] this type of a
structural lightweight metal part. "
Weight savings will depend on the
structural component being built,
Hasenfratz said. The aluminum components
made in Welland are likely to be
between 25 per cent and 45 per cent lighter
than their welded counterparts. These
savings partially offset the weight of an
EV battery pack, she said.
But while the large castings offer EV
makers a number of key benefits, they
also come with drawbacks, Fiorani said.
One known issue he pointed to is collisions.
" By
having components, you can cut
the bad piece out and replace it, " he said.
" But when you have a large section of
the vehicle as one unit, it makes it much
more difficult to repair, so it drives up
repair costs and more easily totals a vehicle
in an accident. "
And given the novelty of the technology
" relative to the industry, which moves
at a glacial pace, " other issues could arise,
Fiorani said.
Tesla is using high-pressure die-casting
-giga presses-to make the rear
underbody of the Model Y.
PHOTO: TESLA
" Making sure that the part has longevity, "
he said, " that it doesn't wear in the
middle and weaken the whole vehicle or
something along those lines, we just need
to give it time to flush out all the unforeseen
problems that will crop up. " - ANC
Lake Ontario
Automotive News Canada - June 2023

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