Leading the Sustainable Metal Forming Industry
The metal forming industry has notoriously released harmful toxins and emissions into the environment since the dawn of metalworking. In stark contrast to this dark legacy, FluidForming Americas is a great option for sustainable manufacturing and is proud to be the greenest metal forming company in North America.
While every industry – from appliance manufacturing to the healthcare industry – can benefit from a cold-forming precision metal forming process that uses water as the forming force, the electric vehicle (EV) industry is especially well-suited for an environmentally-friendly metal forming process.
How FluidForming Supports Electric Vehicle Manufacturing
FluidForming can form complex parts and is perfect for forming EV parts and systems such as:
- Cooling systems
- Battery enclosures
- Heat exchangers
- Body panels and parts
- Structural components
Sustainability in EV Manufacturing
As concerns about climate change continue to grow, sustainable manufacturing has become a priority for the electric vehicle manufacturing industry. As a company proud of our sustainable metal forming process and our versatile, three-in-one FormBalancer metal forming presses, FluidForming offers significant benefits to makers of EVs, EV components, and EV battery enclosures.
Sustainability has understandably become a strategic priority for most automakers. Ford has committed to investing $29 billion in electric vehicle (EV) development, Cadillac’s first-ever EV has hit the streets, slick Rivians are parked in neighborhoods across the country, Toyota is unveiling a solid state battery in 2025, and Tesla is loosening the reins on its charging system, making public EV charging more and more accessible to the masses.
Ready or not, EVs are coming.
This is good because internal combustion engines haven’t been great for the planet. In fact, passenger vehicles account for a whopping 45.1% of global carbon dioxide emissions (themanufacturer.com).
How Does Sustainable Manufacturing Fit Into the Automaking Picture?
Although EVs produce zero tailpipe emissions and EVs are better for the environment in the long run, there's plenty of room for improvement in sustainability in the electric car industry. Sustainable metal forming processes minimize both production waste and lessen the overall environmental impact of EV or EV battery manufacturing.
A higher level of sustainability can be achieved by optimizing product designs (reducing weight), replacing plastics with longer-lasting metal parts, embracing Lean manufacturing principles, and employing new manufacturing processes, like FluidForming hydroforming.
There are plenty of secondary benefits to sustainable manufacturing for the electric vehicle industry, too including:
- Heightened brand value.
- New PR and marketing opportunities.
- Improved customer loyalty and engagement.
- Cost-savings resulting from improved metal forming technologies.
- Waste reduction as a result of high part conformity.
- Lower carbon emissions.
- Better part performance.
- Weight reduction.
- Range benefits.
- Access to government incentives.
- Qualifying for the R&D tax credit.
- Lower energy costs.
To achieve greater sustainability success, the electric vehicle industry needs to continue identifying environmental pain points like material waste, battery recycling, non-conforming parts, and consumables. New manufacturing processes — like FluidForming — can help electric vehicle manufacturers take a step forward on their environmental journey.
Meeting EV Manufacturing Sustainability Goals with FluidForming Hydroforming
FluidForming’s fresh approach to sustainable metal forming offers a number of potential benefits for automotive manufacturers.
The FluidForming FormBalancer is perfect for prototyping and low- to medium-volume production runs. The bladder-free metal forming machines are compact and since water is the forming force, pre-painted and pre-finished metals can be formed without damaging finish quality.
Parts produced using the FluidForming technology are lightweight and durable. In many cases, parts once manufactured with inferior plastics can now be formed with lightweight metal alloys — improving the lifespan, fit and finish, appearance, safety ratings, and overall performance of any given component.
The FluidForming sheet metal forming process manufactures unibody parts which exhibit a greater strength than conventionally welded joints or components. Other potential benefits of FluidForming in the EV industry include increased component rigidity, reduced dimensional variability, a reduction in the number of parts, and a reduction in the number of joints per component.
Fluid Forming Americas is one of the leading metal forming companies in the United States. For more information about FluidForming and our sustainable manufacturing process, call 1-800-497-3545 or email us at info@ffamericas.com.
FluidForming Americas, Inc. is a member of the Precision Metal Forming Association and is AS9100 Rev D, ISO 9001:2015 certified, and ITAR-registered.