Advanced EAF Steel Capabilities for Automotive Platforms
Automobiles rely heavily on steel, with each vehicle containing an average of one ton (Steel Facts, World Steel Association). The extensive use of steel in the automotive sector significantly contributes to embodied carbon emissions, highlighting the importance of material selection in decarbonization strategies.
Many automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have established sustainability goals and initiatives aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity of their platforms and transitioning toward a more circular economy. One way automakers can reduce overall carbon emissions is by reducing the embodied carbon from a vehicle’s materials with low-embodied carbon steel made via electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking.
Read more about how EAF steel is driving the future of automotive production as a more sustainable option for OEMs to reduce emissions while meeting rigorous performance and safety standards.
Strong, Lightweight EAF Steel for Automotive Platform
For decades, misconceptions persisted that steel made with EAFs was of lower quality and only suitable for limited applications. In reality, Nucor has been a pioneer in producing high-performance EAF automotive-grade steel for more than 25 years, proving its ability to meet the industry’s most demanding standards.
Nucor continues to expand our product development and steelmaking process to produce more complex grades of EAF steel to meet increased standards for vehicle safety, fuel efficiency and design flexibility.
The following Nucor EAF steel products are available for vehicle production
Bake Hardenable (BH): Steel that increases in yield strength after being heated during the paint-baking process, resulting in improved dent and crash resistance. Typical BH steel applications include body panels, fenders and closure panels.
Dual Phase (DP): Steel with improved ductility at high strengths due to a soft ferrite microstructure with discrete, hard martensitic steel islands. DP steel is typically used for frame rails, reinforcements and structural components.
Extra Deep Drawing Steel (EDDS): A type of low-carbon steel known for its exceptional formability and ability to withstand deep drawing processes to make complex shapes. Typical uses for EDDS include body panels, closure panels and floor pans.
High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA): Steel with higher strength, good ductility and weldability used throughout the body structure of a vehicle for strength, stiffness, crash management and energy absorption. HSLA steels are also used in many chassis applications, such as control arms and engine cradles.
Stretch Flangeable Steels (SF): Also known as ferritic-bainitic steels, these grades have strength and ductility similar to HSLA steels, but with improved edge stretchability. This enables the production of high-strength parts with improved designs that require significant edge stretch. Typical uses include control arms, cross braces and various reinforcements.
Multiphase (MP) and Complex Phase (CP): High strength steels with improved local formability, including improved edge stretchability. These grades have a very fine-grained microstructure with hard martensitic islands, tough and ductile bainitic islands as well as ductile ferrite. MP and CP grades are used in applications such as frame rails, truck frames and reinforcements.
Nucor’s high-strength automotive sheet steel and engineered bar products are utilized in a wide range of automotive applications, including internal combustion engine (ICE) and electrified vehicle (EV) platforms. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on ICE vehicle platforms.
Automotive Solutions Using Advanced High-Strength Steel
Breakthroughs in EAF steelmaking have advanced rapidly, enabling the production of the high-strength, lightweight steels increasingly demanded by the automotive industry, leading to increased efficiency in automotive designs.
By selecting high-quality scrap inputs and integrating direct reduced iron (DRI), EAF steelmakers can produce advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) and ultra-high strength steel (UHSS) grades that meet stringent requirements for performance, safety and sustainability – all while emitting significantly less embodied carbon.
EAF steel advancements:
- Higher-strength complex phase and multiphase steels offer improved local formability, making them resistant to shear fracture and providing superior edge stretchability. These characteristics make them ideal for structural components such as frame rails and other load-bearing elements, while maintaining weldability with a low carbon equivalent.
- High hole expansion (HHE) steels are engineered for enhanced edge stretchability and uniform microstructure, allowing for better forming and consistent performance. These are commonly used in applications like control arms, cradles, twist beams, truck frames and suspension systems. Nucor produces HHE steels covering an entire range of high-strength steels beyond the typically produced grades.
EAFs are now capable of producing steel for exposed parts, and Nucor was one of the first steelmakers to manufacture this type of steel, including the steel roof of a luxury crossover SUV.
The use of advanced EAF steels enables automakers to design safer, more crash-resistant vehicles without adding unnecessary weight. This balance of strength and lightness directly supports improvements in fuel economy and electric vehicle range, making it possible to meet evolving regulatory targets while supporting long-term sustainability goals.
The Automotive Industry is Shifting to a Circular Mindset
The automotive sector is transitioning to a circular mindset, as end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) are a valuable resource for recycling into new vehicles.
ELVs represent a critical input to a circular system. When properly dismantled and sorted, ELVs yield useful ferrous scrap that can be reintroduced into EAF steelmaking with minimal loss. Since vehicles are composed of an average of 54% steel (AISI Automotive, 2025), OEMs have an opportunity to reduce lifecycle emissions by utilizing EAF-produced steel. By designing vehicles with recycling in mind, the industry can maximize the recovery of high-grade scrap. This closes the loop, transforming retired vehicles into a resource for the next generation of high-performance steel.
According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and WorldAutoSteel, the use of current grades of AHSS can reduce the structural weight of a vehicle by as much as 25 percent. A reduction in overall weight using AHSS grade steel produced with an EAF will lower a vehicle’s embodied carbon as well as contribute to reducing a vehicle’s lifecycle emissions. Therefore, integrating EAF steel into vehicle platforms supports deep decarbonization across both production and use phases. Automakers can also source domestically manufactured steel to lower emissions in the transportation phase.
Nucor actively explores partnerships with OEMs to innovate this circular approach by using scrap from ELVs to produce new steel for more sustainable vehicles. This commitment aligns with the growing demand for low-embodied carbon materials and long-term climate goals across the automotive sector.
Decarbonization Tools
Decarbonization has become a top priority for the automotive industry as OEMs aim to reduce emissions across the supply chain while fulfilling rising regulatory, investor and consumer expectations.
Sustainability has emerged as a key business priority, and its significance continues to increase over time. Not only are more and more companies expected to report on their greenhouse gas emissions and other sustainability metrics, but now there is increased pressure to set targets and reduce their footprint. In the “2025 State of Corporate Sustainability” report, 88% of S&P 500 companies are reporting their greenhouse gas emissions, and 57% of these companies have committed to reducing them (UCLA Anderson).
Nucor offers a range of custom tools and solutions that can be tailored to achieve customer-specific sustainability goals. Think of it like a menu where steel purchasers, like OEMs and tiers, can custom-select options to reduce embodied carbon, increase the recycled content in their steel, or both.
Ongoing Development Steers Future Capacity
Nucor’s advanced automotive sheet steel, engineered bar and cold finished products are used in applications ranging from drivetrains, frame rails and truck frames to suspensions and high-tech components. With a commitment to sustainability and quality, we are driving the future of automotive steel innovations.
Our investments in new facilities and technology will enable the production of advanced EAF steel grades on a larger scale, meeting the future needs of the automotive industry and driving sustainability initiatives for OEMs.
Along with recent expansions of new coating and galvanizing lines at Nucor Steel Berkeley, Nucor Steel Arkansas and Nucor Steel Gallatin, we are also expanding EAF capabilities for exposed EAF automotive steel products and grades in a state-of-the-art steel sheet mill in Mason County, West Virginia. Nucor Steel West Virginia will be one of the most technically advanced steel mills in the world.
About Nucor Steel West Virginia Sheet Mill:
The 1,700-acre site will have an estimated annual capacity of three million tons and employ approximately 800 full-time teammates, positioning West Virginia as a leader in clean steel production.
When operational, the new mill will be the most capable sheet mill in the region with a considerably lower carbon footprint than its competitors.
It will be capable of producing 84-inch sheet products and will feature a 76-inch tandem cold mill along with two galvanizing lines designed for manufacturing advanced automotive steel grades
Positioned on the Ohio River, it will have logistics and freight advantages and unmatched capabilities that enable the ongoing growth of Nucor's high-quality, low-carbon steel product offerings.
Get ongoing updates about the mill and information about high-paying job opportunities at Nucor Steel West Virginia.
The new West Virginia sheet mill will revolutionize the production of EAF steel sheet products and grades, shaping the future of a more sustainable automotive industry.
Nucor is a leading producer of innovative steel solutions for the automotive industry. Learn more about our capabilities and get in touch with our Detroit-based, dedicated automotive steel experts at Nucor Automotive Solutions.