Love the smell of gasoline and the sound of a well-tuned exhaust? Buckle up. Cars with internal combustion engines aren’t going away quite yet, but have no doubt: the electric vehicle (EV) market is running at top speed. Car makers everywhere are spending billions on research and development, with newcomers arriving on a regular basis. This trend presents machine shops with a unique opportunity to cash in on the demand for jigs, fixtures, molds, and prototype parts. These and other precision-machined components are just a few examples of the EV tooling that’s coming down the turnpike. 

The EV Tooling Scene

They may look the same from the outside, but electric vehicles are nothing like gas cars. For starters, they have far fewer moving parts and a drivetrain that is much simpler. Another example is the simple 12-volt battery under the hood of your pickup truck, which automakers have replaced with a hugely complex high-voltage wiring system. But perhaps most importantly, the industry is immature. EV automakers continue to refine their wares, and because of that, countless opportunities for EV tooling abound. 

Solving Big Tasks

EV makers are on the fast track. As such, their tool rooms need high-quality machine tools able to crank out EV tooling quickly and efficiently. Consider surface grinding. Toolmakers depend on automatic feed surface grinders like the SGS series from Kent USA to generate the flat, smooth, and accurate surfaces needed for EV tooling.

The EV tooling list also includes the molds needed to shape body panels and battery enclosures. Many of them are quite large. To meet this need, EV manufacturers  turn to equally large machining centers. For example, the largest of the KFD/W series double column CNC mills—the KFD-42—boasts travels of up to 236″ x 166″ x 60″ (6000 x 4200 x 1500 mm). And as with the other machines in the series, it has a “box in box” cast iron frame design for maximum rigidity and accuracy. The result? Toolmakers can load a 26-ton mold base onto its massive table and get ripping from all five sides. 

Real-World EV Applications

There’s much more to the EV tooling story than surface grinding and mold making, however. For instance, an engineering team might rely on one of Kent’s BM-3 bed mills to make quick design changes to motor mounts and other parts of the vehicle as they test new layouts. Because speed is of the essence here, machinists will be glad to see they can operate it in manual, conversational, or “full CNC” mode using G-code, maximizing flexibility. 

EV tooling also needs holes. Lots and lots of holes. Holes for wiring harness mounts, holes for locating pins and fasteners…the list goes on. The bed mill just mentioned makes short work of any holemaking operation. But where knee and bed mills are limited to smaller holes and parts, a radial arm drill is designed for heavy-duty drilling on even very large workpieces.  

Last but not least, any shop engaged in EV tooling production calls for a dependable, accurate lathe. Many shops have found that Kent’s RML-1440VT fits that need quite nicely. As with others in the series, the RML offers infinitely variable spindle speeds, hardened and ground gears and bedways, and a one-piece cast iron base. It’s built to last, whatever the EV tooling needs. 

Looking Forward

The EV world changes fast. So does the tooling needed to keep it moving forward. Because of this, machine shops must adapt quickly or risk getting run over. Kent USA has supplied EV automakers and their Tier suppliers with the machinery just listed and far more. We know what’s required to make EV tooling shops successful. If you’re ready to travel down that road (or are already on the way), just give us a call. We’ll keep you moving forward.