With global EV sales approaching 14 million cars in 2023 with a year-on-year growth rate of 35% it is clear that EVs are gaining acceptance rapidly.
Materials selection for any piece of equipment or a process system is rarely a simple task, unless you are exactly replicating something successful. Often engineers will have a checklist to help them narrow down the choices, eliminating groups of materials that are not suitable for various reasons. Austenitic 300 series stainless steels containing 7-35% nickel will have most if not all of the boxes checked for being suitable where a stainless steel is desired.
Awareness about robustness and durability of bridge design has grown since Morandi’s time. The new San Giorgio Bridge (its successor) in Genoa was designed by Renzo Piano and inaugurated in 2020.
The selection of an alloy should be guided by careful examination of the needs of the application. Before making a switch, it’s important to fully investigate an alloy’s strengths, weaknesses and applicability to your structure.
In 2021, China recorded the strongest growth in the EV market with around 3.2 million EVs sold. This was an increase of 2 million EV units compared to 2020 which was more than the combined increase of all other regions taken together.
While it may require an initial higher investment when compared with other materials, stainless steel’s unique properties deliver long-term performance and economic benefits including minimum downtime, reduced maintenance costs and reduced environmental impacts.
The last three months have been unprecedented. But amidst the chaos and despite the drop in global GDP, there has still been a considerable amount of activity in the electric vehicle (EV) and battery world.