An internationally operating maker of premium automobiles has awarded HASCO KSPG Nonferrous Components (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (KPSNC), a joint venture of Rheinmetall Automotive AG, a major order for electromotor housings. The housings, designed for a water-cooled synchronous motor with four different performance levels, will be installed in the OEM’s entire fleet of electrically powered vehicles.

Worth a three-digit million euro lifetime total, the contract extends for a period of six years. Serial production commences in June 2023 at the KPSNC plant in Guangde in China’s Anhui Province, where the components will be cast and finished.

Encompassing KS HUAYU AluTech GmbH in Germany and KPSNC in China, Rheinmetall Automotive’s aluminum casting unit has accumulated decades of experience in producing highly complex aluminum cast parts, expertise which it is now putting to work in the expanding market for electrically powered vehicles.

This new type of drive requires a multitude of completely new components, including housings for batteries and electromotors. Due to their complexity, casting is the preferred method for constructing these parts. Because the batteries in a hybrid or e-vehicle are comparatively heavy, keeping the rest of the components as light as possible is imperative. This is why, besides lightweight steel materials, aluminum housings are primarily used.