Cost Reduction in Alternator

manufacturing or purchasing?

I would be surprised should any reasonable answer come in as anything other than that having to do with QUALITY of manufacture. Buying or selling.

But perhaps Padmalaya Baral is only asking which if the least expensive as an item replacement in his car? Given that, I have been there a number of times as a consumer and can cite this (from highest cost to lesser): OEM (original auto mfr. replacement part), re-manufactured, and rebuilt. Be that the case, I hope that you are not to be looking to replace something like unto a Mazda, that I was confronted several years ago for my daughters '92 where everyone (from top to bottom resouces) uttering that a new one is some $800 US to about $350 (that I bought). Why? Because it was said to be "special" and "digital". I doubt the latter, just a parts scam driven by mfr and availability.

Good luck with your quest in any event.

One way is to use stamped as opposed to cast cooling fan/pulley sheave. More expensive vehicles tend to use cast, less expensive...stamped.

Remove the iron, copper, and aluminum, in that order. You will defnitely have a cheaper alternator. You will also have a piece of junk! Please note it was not stipulated that quality be retained.

GM and Ford started the cost reduction exercise back in around 1980. By now there is little left to remove except the alternator itself. But, they are working on that as well.

Next generation development will be the removal of starters and alternators as separate items. Stamped fans have already been in use for a decade. Stamped pulley? same thing. Most serpentine belt styles seem to be done that way. By the time they get around to using coaxial PM generators for starting and regenerative charging or braking you can expect to see conductive polymers instead of copper. They may even have some engineering polymer casings instead of cast aluminum casings. However such a development is not going to be cheap!

If a group of auto manufacturers specified parameters for standard compatible parts, prices would come down dramatically.

That eill never happen.

I can remember working on my old 1986 F-150, you could sit on the wheel weels and work on any part under the hood.

Now with my 2007 F-150 King Ranch I'm lucky I can add my own winshild washer fluid.

When I was a kid there was a shop that sold the diode bridge for $5.00, 90% of the time that was all that was needed-I miss the old days. Try to replace a starter or even a battery, you almost have to pull the motor.

Can you imagine walking into Pep Boys, Advance Auto, NAPA etc, and the only thing the kid at the counter says, "Is it a 90 amp, 120 amp, or 150 amp alternator sir (or ma'am)?"

Sigh . . . .

We are due for this sort of thing.

The cost can easily be reduced to zero.

1. Don't buy it
2. Don't manufacture it.

Wangito.

next time think a little more about how you word your questions. Stupid questions usually bring back stupid answers.

Maybe Padmalaya was trying to determine ways to reduce parasitic losses from the alternator?

Better bearings, pulley sizes, reduced electrical load, clutch drives.

Why do we have to guess?

Wangito.

Easy. Don't buy one.