American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM)

“It’s not enough to just build the best technology. We have to meet the market where it is. ConceptEV software helps us do that by enabling informed trade-offs across mechanical, electromagnetic, and power electronics domains, ensuring we optimize not just for performance but for cost and efficiency.”

— Tony Pistagnesi
Executive Director / Innovation and Business Development, AAM

Engineering Solutions 

AAM's method, combined with Ansys ConceptEV software was used to optimize vehicle architecture, iterate on component-level designs, and track impact at the vehicle level, all within the same environment. Now, component-level engineers can add their changes to the environment, run a simulation, and see in real time how these changes impact a vehicle in terms of performance, efficiency, and cost. AAM can engage much earlier and more collaboratively with OEMs to understand priorities and constraints, as well as work together to optimize entire systems for mechanical, electrical, and thermal factors. This leads to better technical outcomes relevant to customer real-world needs.

“ConceptEV software gives us a powerful environment to evaluate and iterate quickly on electric propulsion architectures, helping us respond to the fast-moving demands of the industry. The flexibility and speed of the tool are key enablers in a market where expectations, technologies, and cost inputs are constantly shifting,” says Tony Pistagnesi executive director of Innovation and Business Development at AAM.

Benefits

• Increased development speed. AAM significantly reduced engineering effort by front-loading critical design decisions, cutting weeks from development cycles.
• Delivery of real-time simulation capabilities. More hours saved means more time with OEMs to understand requirements, co-develop solutions, and explore trade-offs.
• Support for fully optimized designs. AAM achieved better design trade-offs across performance, cost, and efficiency, validated against hardware testing.
• Enhanced collaboration. Streamlining decision-making with full system context facilitates cross-functional teamwork and a deeper understanding of design decisions.
• New design evaluation standard. A new methodology and ConceptEV software helped AAM establish a baseline for all design decisions, from concept to production.
• Drives digital engineering and systems thinking. The AMM/Ansys collaboration supports a larger go-to-market strategy for next-gen driveline and propulsion systems that are competitive, scalable, and aligned with end-user needs.