1/3/2012 4:16:00 PM
HEADLINES
Huck Fasteners Part of Reducing Bus Frame Weight by 40%

Alcoa developed an all-aluminum space frame and bus design for BYD that has reduced the weight of the new BYD Electric Bus body by 40% vs. traditional steel buses.

Alcoa’s Huck fasteners were part of the weight reduction for the bus prototypes unveiled in China this week.

“The effort with BYD was a joint effort by our Rolled Products business and our fasteners group – along with our R&D team who helped design the bus,” Kevin Lowery, a director of corporate communications, told GlobalFastenerNews.com.

The new buses use 10 mm diameter Huck Bobtail fasteners for most connection between the aluminum upper structure and steel chassis.  Within the aluminum structure 8 mm Huck BOM blind fasteners were used.

Bus weight reductions totaling 1.2 tons included Alcoa forged wheels and Huck Spin fasteners.

The combined weight savings will increase bus range 10% to 300 kilometers (188 miles) on a full charge.

BYD plans to produce thousands of the electric buses for the China and Southeast Asia markets and will also export the buses globally. Alcoa supplies bus design, sheet product from its Bohai rolling mill in Qinhuangdao, Hebei and forged aluminum wheels in addition to fasteners.

The new bus design builds on Alcoa’s leading capabilities in safe transportation design, including automotive and ground transportation space frame technologies for leading brands such as Ferrari and Audi, among others.

“It is certainly impressive that we were able to drop more than 1.2 tons from the weight of BYD’s new electric bus compared to steel,” said Jinya Chen, president of Alcoa’s Asia-Pacific region. “However, this design is about more than just weight. The new design is durable, corrosion resistant, infinitely recyclable and expected to increase the range by at least 10% and withstand the rigors of everyday city driving.”

BYD is ranked #1 at the top of Bloomberg’s and BusinessWeek’s 2009 Tech 100 List. BYD manufactures advanced, environmentally-friendly battery technologies like BYD’s Iron Phosphate battery. BYD’s solar panels and LED lighting systems have TUV/CE and UL listings. The BYD brand also is used in consumer electronics space and automobile manufacturing.

Alcoa produces primary and fabricated aluminum. Alcoa products include fastening systems, flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, as well as Alcoa® wheels, precision and investment castings, and building systems. Web: alcoa.com/fastening.systems.  ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com

Alcoa developed an all-aluminum space frame and bus design for BYD that has reduced the weight of the new BYD Electric Bus body by 40% vs. traditional steel buses.

Alcoa’s Huck Fasteners were part of the weight reduction for the bus prototypes unveiled in China this week.

“The effort with BYD was a joint effort by our Rolled Products business and our fasteners group – along with our R&D team who helped design the bus,” Kevin Lowery, a director of corporate communications, told GlobalFastenerNews.com.

The new buses use 10 mm diameter Huck Bobtail fasteners for most connections between the aluminum upper structure and steel chassis.  Within the aluminum structure 8 mm Huck BOM blind fasteners were used.

Bus weight reduction totals 1.2 tons and include Alcoa forged wheels and Huck Spin fasteners.

The combined weight savings will increase bus range 10% to 300 kilometers (188 miles) on a full charge.

BYD plans to produce thousands of the electric buses for the China and Southeast Asia markets and will also export the buses globally. Alcoa supplies bus design, sheet product from its Bohai rolling mill in Qinhuangdao, Hebei and forged aluminum wheels in addition to fasteners.

The new bus design builds on Alcoa’s capabilities in safe transportation design, including automotive and ground transportation space frame technologies for brands such as Ferrari and Audi, among others.

“It is certainly impressive that we were able to drop more than 1.2 tons from the weight of BYD’s new electric bus compared to steel,” said Jinya Chen, president of Alcoa’s Asia-Pacific region. “However, this design is about more than just weight. The new design is durable, corrosion resistant, infinitely recyclable and expected to increase the range by at least 10% and withstand the rigors of everyday city driving.”

BYD is ranked #1 at the top of Bloomberg’s and BusinessWeek’s 2009 Tech 100 List. BYD manufactures advanced, environmentally-friendly battery technologies like BYD’s Iron Phosphate battery. BYD’s solar panels and LED lighting systems have TUV/CE and UL listings. The BYD brand also is used in consumer electronics space and automobile manufacturing.

Alcoa produces primary and fabricated aluminum. Alcoa products include fastening systems, flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, as well as Alcoa® wheels, precision and investment castings, and building systems. Web: alcoa.com/fastening.systems  ©2012 GlobalFastenerNews.com

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