If you want your next car to get better fuel economy than your current car, it should be lighter in weight. Because of that, automakers are making even greater use of high-strength, low-weight materials -- like aluminum -- to deliver better mileage numbers and meet the stricter government regulations that are coming down the pike.
Several manufacturers -- including GM, Ford, Nissan, Audi, BMW and Jaguar Land Rover -- have all revealed plans to remove hundreds of pounds of weight from future models. With weight-reduction plans already in motion, the aluminum industry is predicting demand for automotive aluminum to double in the next decade.
“Aluminum offers the fastest, safest, most environment-friendly and cost-effective way to reduce weight and build a better vehicle,” says Randall Scheps, ATG chairman and director of the ground transportation market sector for Alcoa Inc. “As part of a more holistic approach to designing and engineering cars and trucks that includes lighter yet stronger materials, smart design, advanced powertrains and cleaner fuels, aluminum solutions are available today to address the challenges facing the auto industry.”
Are the lighter cars just as safe? Industry research confirms weight reduction with aluminum can maintain or even improve safety. Designed to fold predictably during a crash, aluminum absorbs -- pound for pound -- two times the energy in a crash that steel will, yet it offers greater weight-reduction potential and retains strength. According to Aachen University in Germany and the European Aluminum Association, key automotive components made of aluminum can reduce vehicle weight safely by as much as 40 percent, compared to only 11 percent for high-strength steel versus the steel typically used. Weight savings derived from the use of aluminum could result in 2.7 more miles per gallon, or a nearly 10 percent improvement in fuel economy over a typical auto today -- without sacrificing the vehicle’s safety performance.
