Advanced Steel Paves the Way for Greener Vehicles

In alignment with the global push toward 2050 carbon neutrality, leading automotive manufacturers are increasingly introducing environmentally friendly and energy-efficient vehicle models. A key focus is on the use of lightweight body materials to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, while still ensuring the structural safety of vehicles.

In recent years, Taiwanese auto parts manufacturers have mastered hot stamping technology, leading to a rise in the use of hot-stamped steels in safety-critical structural components. This trend is particularly evident in the U.S. and Europe, where hot-stamped components now make up about 4% to 15% of a vehicle's structure, reducing vehicle weight by 10 to 30 kilograms.

China Steel Corporation (CSC) has recently developed a new generation of hot-stamping Anti-Oxidation (AO) coated steels for the automotive industry, including the 15B22 and 15B36 products. These steels, after undergoing hot stamping and in-mold quenching, achieve a martensitic structure with a tensile strength exceeding 1470 MPa—three to four times stronger than standard mild steel—while maintaining over 5% elongation. The high-temperature anti-oxidation properties of these steels also eliminate the need for sandblasting or peening, contributing to carbon reduction and enhancing the dimensional accuracy of automotive components. This innovation is poised to drive the automotive industry toward a new era of low-carbon manufacturing.