Lightweighting has become a verb in its own right – and with good reason (See new Automotive World report: ‘Special report: Vehicle lightweighting’). A successful lightweighting strategy involves much more than simply replacing a few steel panels with aluminium or carbon fibre – it’s about using the right material for the right part in the right place.
Indeed, lightweighting has become a whole-vehicle concept in itself, improving not only fuel economy and emissions but also vehicle performance and handling.
Thinking about the vehicle as a whole is not necessarily new, but it is now being done with increasing skill and out of increasing necessity. New fuel economy and emissions targets are coming, and the automotive industry needs to act. Fast.
A successful lightweighting strategy involves much more than simply replacing a few steel panels with aluminium or carbon fibre – it’s about using the right material for the right part in the right place
Do we need to use new materials when we already have steel? Why not make more aluminium-bodied cars? Why not just switch to carbon fibre? What’s wrong with using more magnesium? Will we ever see a plastic car?
Aluminium has well-publicised benefits – and drawbacks. Carbon fibre answers many questions for OEMs seeking to reduce weight – and it poses many more. Magnesium has considerable weight advantages – and it comes with considerable and weighty manufacturing challenges. As for plastics, suppliers see considerable opportunities – their job is to convince the OEMs to think in plastic, not in metal.
Overcome such challenges, and there remains the issue of material availability and supply. Annual production runs of 700-800,000 units, as in the case of the Ford F-150, must be supported by highly reliable material sourcing strategies, and an appropriately considered supply chain strategy.
As mentioned earlier, it’s not just about switching one panel for another. How will the ‘new’ materials be joined to the ‘old’ materials? What about the wiring harness that weighs as much as an adult male? The glass? The vehicle’s interior? Those luxurious 16-way powered, heated, leather massage seats?
Weight saving begets weight saving – a lighter car needs less power, smaller brakes, and a smaller fuel tank. And smaller means less material, which is good for business
These questions and many more are addressed by experts from across the automotive industry in a new Automotive World report on lightweighting. Amongst a wealth of information, there’s one (not surprising) theme that runs throughout ‘Special report: Vehicle lightweighting’: business case, business case, business case.
Any material switch requires investment – into R&D, securing material supply, manufacturing processes and equipment, training the dealership network and training the body repair network. OEMs and suppliers are prepared to pay for lightweighting – but only up to a point.
Those building the business case do have a trick up their sleeves, however: weight saving begets weight saving – a lighter car needs less power, smaller brakes, and a smaller fuel tank. And smaller means less material, which is good for business.
Get it all right, and the end-customers enjoy the benefits of lightweighting in the performance of the vehicle on the road, and the performance of the vehicle on their wallets. And that enjoyment probably comes without any knowledge of the effort that went into achieving so many of those small incremental weight savings.
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Martin Kahl is Editor, Automotive World
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