Electric vehicle makers have largely relied on aluminum to make their cars lighter in hopes of offsetting the weight of the battery pack and reducing overall weight in order to extend the range—the driving force, if you will, in increasing the attractiveness of EVs for consumers that are thus far underwhelmed with the current EV range. But now both legacy carmakers and Tesla are looking to expand their customer base beyond niche luxury EVs—such as the mass-market Tesla Model 3. To do this, they must find a way to lower material and manufacturing costs to make more affordable vehicles. One way carmakers are looking to lower costs is to revert back to heavier material, such as steel . It is heavier than aluminum, but significantly cheaper—more than three times cheaper, in fact. This renewed push to lower the costs of EVs has set the stage for another industry battle—a […]