Throughout a media day for Magna Worldwide’s “Tech Week,” we bought to go to the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan, to check drive a few of the contract producer’s electrified tech. This included a GMC Sierra 2500 transformed to a BEV utilizing Magna’s Etelligent Drive 4WD powertrain. With it, we have been in a position expertise the system’s 14,500 lb towing capability and drive another distinctive EVs too.
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Magna Worldwide and its electrified expertise
Even for those who haven’t heard of Magna Worldwide, it’s a protected wager you’ve pushed a automobile that comprises at lease one element the contract producer has produced. Throughout its “Tech Week” occasion in Pontiac, Michigan, Magna CEO Swamy Kotagiri detailed a few of the firm’s manufacturing numbers.
In whole, Magna has produced over 3.7 million automobiles throughout thirty completely different fashions for ten completely different OEM clients together with the likes of Ford, Rivian, GM, and shortly, Fisker. In 2021 alone, Magna garnered $36 billion in gross sales, solidifying its title as the biggest contract producer in North America and the fourth largest on this planet.
Because the automotive business as a complete is shifting drastically towards electrified fashions, Magna has adopted go well with. By creating the whole lot from electrified powertrains, to battery enclosures, and ADAS techniques, Magna is offering a number of OEMs with the expertise and elements to go all-EV. Here’s a fast recap of a few of the electrified tech we’ve coated from Magna prior to now:
Testing electrified fashions in Michigan with Magna
After protecting this electrified expertise from afar, Magna Worldwide was good sufficient to ask us out to the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Michigan, to expertise it first hand. This included Magna’s eDS Low CE 3-in-1 eDrive entrance axle system, at the moment current on the Volkswagen ID.4.
What’s cool about this electrical motor is that it manufactured with out uncommon earth supplies, making it extra sustainable and value efficient.
Behind that EV in line was a Tesla Mannequin S geared up with Magna’s EtelligentDrive system. This 3-in-1 eDrive system makes use of a motor on the entrance axle and two within the rear joined by a summation gearbox with clutch-based torque vectoring. The result’s a Tesla sedan with 480 kW of whole energy that was constructed years earlier than the Mannequin S Plaid got here out; it at the moment sits as an early instance of Magna’s electrified experience.
One of many extra attention-grabbing BEVs out there to drive throughout Magna’s occasion was the Arcfox αT, an electrified mannequin bought in China as a part of a three way partnership between Magna and Beijing Electrical Automobile Co. Ltd (BJEV).
I bought to drive the FWD model across the M1 Concourse and was excited on the alternative to drive a Chinese language EV, a market I’ve a specific adoration for. The design itself felt very European, and I believed it was a easy drive all-around. Nothing too flashy or luxurious, however nothing to scoff at both. The general efficiency high quality was actually obvious.
The twin-motor, AWD model of the αT comes with a battery capability of 67.3 or 93.6 kWh, delivering NEDC ranges between 525-708 km (326-440 miles). It may possibly speed up to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.2 seconds and attain a high pace of 180 km/h (~112 mph).
Towing with Magna’s Etelligent Drive expertise
The one electrified mannequin a lot of the journalists have been clamoring to drive was the GMC Sierra geared up with Magna’s EtelligentForce expertise. Magna had two of the Sierra’s out there to drive, so my first few laps have been within the electrified pickup with out the trailer to expertise the truck itself.
EtelligentForce is a drop-in 4WD powertrain system for passenger vans and lightweight industrial automobiles that electrifies the automobile’s capabilities with out compromising its payload or towing.
Magna’s eBeam is a part of the system and may help in OEMs electrifying current ladder body chassis with out having to start out over with a floor up platform. eBeam additionally helps present 14,500 lbs of towing capability, which was on show at M1 throughout our take a look at drives.
Whereas customers will quickly have the ability to buy an all-electric GMC Sierra Denali pickup, we bought to expertise the towing expertise early utilizing a combustion mannequin GMC Sierra 2500 made electrical with Magna’s EtelligentDrive powertrain swapped in.
The electrified pickup drove easily, providing regenerative braking whereas towing over 10,000 kilos on a trailer behind it. Magna’s EtelligentDrive system is obtainable on Class 1 to six automobiles. Right here’s the electrified GMC pickup in motion:
Magna’s future outlook for EV tech
After listening to from the corporate’s CEO, there’s loads to be optimistic about as Magna continues to develop its arsenal of EV expertise. Its eDrive elements will seem in increasingly EVs from OEMs going ahead, together with the Fisker Ocean which begins manufacturing with Magna in Austria this fall. Extra automobiles embody an unnamed OEM in China in 2023 (Magna at the moment producers for NIO and XPeng, so it’s in all probability a type of two), and an American OEM in 2024.
A significant focus of Magna trying forward will probably be its battery enclosures, which have already been developed and applied in EVs just like the Ford F-150 Lightning and GMC Hummer EV pickup. Magna’s CEO wouldn’t elaborate on what future fashions it will present enclosures to, however the firm is assured it should proceed work with those self same automakers sooner or later.
Kotagiri defined that Magna’s manufacturing of enclosures is each materials and processing agnostic, which means it will possibly design and construct EV battery enclosures to any buyer’s specs.
One of the best half is, each EV wants one, so Magna is in a profitable place to offer to the rising demand for such elements. Kotagiri additionally shared that Magna is investing about $500 million to increase battery enclosure meeting traces over the following three years.
Total, this was a cool journey to Michigan to see a bunch of the EV tech – that we’ve coated for years – function in actual life. There’s loads to be excessive on at Magna, as the corporate continues to earn a living hand over fist with no indicators of slowing down because it shifts towards electrification.
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