Auto & Light Truck

Aluminum offers distinct performance advantages that help automakers build better cars and trucks. That is why the auto industry is the fastest-growing customer for aluminum. In 2009, aluminum content reached an all-time high at 8.6 percent of average vehicle curb weight, continuing almost 40 years of uninterrupted growth in North America. Aluminum use is still growing, largely due to its environmental, safety and driving performance advantages.


Environmental Advantage

• As automakers strive to reach CAFE standards, lightweighting will become vital to increased fuel economy, especially when combined with hybrids, clean diesels and other powertrain technologies.
• Recycling aluminum saves nearly 95 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 equivalent) associated with primary aluminum production and requires only about 5 percent of the energy – a distinct advantage since nearly 60 percent of aluminum used on today’s vehicles is sourced from recycled metal.
• A 5 to 7 percent fuel savings can be realized for every 10 percent weight reduction by substituting lightweight aluminum for a heavier material.
• Increased use of aluminum has saved burning more than 84 billion liters of fuel since 1990.
• Nearly 90 percent of automotive aluminum currently is recovered and recycled.

Growth Advantage

• Today’s average vehicle in North America contains 340 pounds of aluminum, making it the second most used material in vehicles.
• Aluminum’s use in light trucks, SUVs and minivans has tripled since 1991 due to its environmental, safety and driving performance advantages. In the past decade, aluminum use has doubled in cars.

Performance Advantage

• All other factors being equal, vehicles made lighter with aluminum can accelerate quicker and require shorter stopping distances than heavier vehicles.
• Compared to heavier steel, aluminum can provide better stability and response, and reduced noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) due to reduced vehicle weight combined with high structural stiffness.
• Reducing weight with aluminum can decrease the slip angle between tires and the road for any given turning situation, allowing a vehicle to respond more directly and safely to steering inputs.
• The rigidity of aluminum’s structures puts drivers in touch with the road and provides more rapid and precise control.

Safety Advantage

• Aluminum can absorb nearly twice as much crash energy as steel, and aluminum can be designed to fold predictably during a crash, letting the vehicle – not its passengers – absorb more of the crash forces.
• Since aluminum is lighter than steel, it can be used to maintain or even increase the size and strength of a vehicle’s critical front- and back-end crumple zones without increasing overall weight, or sacrificing occupant safety.
• Injuries in crashes involving SUVs and smaller vehicles can be reduced up to 26 percent by using aluminum to extend the SUVs front/rear crush zone while cutting overall weight.

Return On Investment

• Aluminum can compete successfully with other materials because of the advantages it brings in primary and secondary weight savings, fuel savings, structural performance and design flexibility.
• When considering primary and secondary weight savings, an aluminum-intensive vehicle could save up to 17.6 percent curb-weight at a cost premium of just $103. This weight saving translates into more than a 15 percent increase in average mileage per gallon.
• Substituting lightweight, high strength aluminum for steel can improve fuel economy at just $30 per mile per gallon improvement.