The way inside the e-vehicle is long and narrow
We have all known it for a long time: electric mobility will become increasingly important in the future! We are successively producing more fasteners for electric-powered cars. Tesla is already one of the largest customers in America as well as in Asia and Europe. What is new is that we are producing screws that differ in their manufacturing process as well as in their shape from known parts. The best example is our KXpanded.
Motor housings, batteries, fuel cells, rotors and stators – these are all comparatively large parts that are installed in both small vehicles and trucks. They have one thing in common: they must be securely bolted together. Unlike in other components in the vehicle, very long thin screws are required, which are installed once through the entire width or height of a component.
The previous manufacturing process and our presses limit the length of screws (regularly up to about 300 mm) and are inefficient for the production of this particular shape. Since our fastener was molded from one piece until recently, the ratio of the head diameter to the length of the shaft was only variable to a certain degree.
Transparent e-vehicle battery with installed KXpanded bolts
In the meantime, we have succeeded in developing a new manufacturing process which solves many of these problems: The screw head and the shank are formed independently of each other and then press-fit stemed. This not only simplifies tooling and reduces delivery times. It also enables lengths of up to 600 mm (which offer greater straightness as a further advantage) and bolt head sizes that are independent of the shank.
We have delivered the first prototypes and these have been validated by our customer. Testing is currently ongoing at Technology for other head shapes, strengths and shank diameters. These tests are performed with computer simulation, as well as on whole studies. So it is only a matter of time until the first two-piece bolts from us are on the road in production vehicles.
KXpress
