1. Introduction

Making lightweight vehicles is not a new concept. In fact, the use of lighter materials and reduction of parts is a concept that has existed since the inception of the automobile, yet much of the change that has existed over the last 50 years has been incremental. Existing infrastructure and familiarity with physical characteristics of certain materials has limited the range of materials and designs for automotive components. Today, changes in powertrain strategies and emphasis on fuel economy are forcing automakers to make significant changes in material selection and possibly vehicle design methodology.

Recent changes to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) are driving automakers to seek more aggressive methods for fuel consumption reductions. Lightweighting of vehicles will be a factor in meeting these requirements due to the inherent relationship between mass and fuel consumption. In addition, lightweighting may benefit other advanced fuel-saving but load constrained technologies, such as battery-powered vehicles.

The ability to introduce new lightweight materials into vehicles is not a trivial matter. Many see a new concept, or limited production, vehicle introduced to the market with lightweight “space-aged” materials and feel that adoption by mass produced vehicles is a simple matter of “remove and replace.” However, this is not the case; factors such as existing infrastructure, material cost, and high volume capacity become of great importance for mass production vehicles. In addition, many of the low production vehicles incorporate these lightweight materials as a method for gaining experience on their performance. Without significant data to support durability, the risk-averse automotive culture will not adopt new materials. Therefore it often takes many years to implement lightweight technology in mainstream production vehicles.

As new materials are introduced and adopted, the workforce will need to adjust to accommodate the following changes in the industry:

• Greater focus on systems approach to vehicle design
• Greater emphasis on characterization of material properties
• Interaction of a mix of materials (aluminum–steel, steel–composite, aluminum–magnesium, etc.)
• Wider variety of manufacturing processes
• Greater use of computer-aided engineering

1.1 Methodology
Researchers at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) investigated the general market for lightweight vehicle technology—collected and reviewed articles, reports, and other documents on the current state of the technology, the market, and what future trends may be.

To supplement this information, researchers spoke with people representing the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. These experts have significant knowledge of manufacturing and materials, and provided substantial insight into the future trends, technological applications, and expectations for labor skills needed. The following organizations were represented in our discussion:

• American Iron and Steel Institute
• Automotive Aluminum Association
• American Chemistry Council
• Ford
• General Motors
• Chrysler
• ArcelorMittal
• Kaiser Aluminum
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Lotus Engineering
• Multimatic
• BASF
• Custom Design

1.2 Automotive Lightweighting
There are numerous benefits through automotive lightweighting. As a result, lightweighting is not only popular because of its positive impact on fuel economy, but also because of the many additional benefits lightweighting creates. Indeed, lightweighting is a perennial objective of the automotive industry.

The most obvious benefit is the impact it has on fuel consumption. In fact, it is estimated that a 10 percent reduction in mass will result in a 3 to 7 percent reduction in fuel consumption.

read more