NEW FUEL ECONOMY PLANS BY THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WILL BENEFIT FROM STRONGER FOCUS ON LOW WEIGHT, HIGH STRENGTH MATERIALS, ALUMINUM INDUSTRY SAYS

(Washington, D.C.) – As the Obama Administration announces its plans today for future fuel economy standards, and as federal agencies are directed to work together on more stringent rules for cars, trucks and commercial vehicles, the following statement was issued by Steve Larkin, President of the Aluminum Association, Inc.

“As truck, commercial vehicle and auto manufacturers strive to meet increasing fuel economy and emissions standards, safely reducing vehicle weight – not necessarily reducing vehicle size – must be part of the solution since powertrain improvements alone won’t get the job done. The answer to consumer and government demands for cleaner, more efficient, affordable cars and trucks is a holistic approach to include lighter yet stronger materials like aluminum, matched with smart design, advanced powertrains and cleaner fuels.

Aluminum is more crash absorbent than the predominant material in vehicles and can safely cut weight without reducing size. This is key since vehicle size – not weight – has been shown to be a better determinant of vehicle safety. Down weighting with aluminum instead of downsizing vehicles overall offers great potential, since lighter vehicles can produce fewer emissions and need less fuel or battery power to operate. Recent studies have shown aluminum can help reduce component weight by as much as 40 percent.

In commercial vehicle applications, reducing weight with greater aluminum use delivers truck owners and operators a high return on investment, including reduced fuel consumption, increased payloads and decreased maintenance costs. Recent research shows that a one ton weight reduction with aluminum can save up to 3,400 gallons of fuel over the lifetime of a commercial vehicle.

In auto applications, consumers can get a 5 to 7 percent vehicle fuel economy improvement for every 10 percent of weight reduction by substituting aluminum for conventional steel. For plug-in electric vehicles, upgrading from traditional steel to an advanced aluminum body structure offers potential cost savings of up to $3,000 per vehicle, since the stored energy requirements of expensive batteries can be cut by 10 percent. Both aluminum-structured hybrids and aluminum-bodied diesels could return about a 13 percent increase in fuel economy, as compared to steel-bodied hybrids and diesel vehicles.

In terms of emissions, lightweighting the world’s overall transportation fleet through the use of aluminum has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 660 million tons annually, or nearly nine percent of global, transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. In the auto sector, using aluminum can save a net 20 pounds of CO2 over the typical lifecycle of a vehicle for each pound of aluminum replacing two pounds of iron or steel – and more than 90 percent of automotive aluminum is recovered and recycled. For commercial vehicles, truck owners and operators can save 37 tons of CO2 over vehicle life and 32 lifecycle tons for every ton of aluminum added to fleet.

For the next generation of more fuel efficient, cleaner, safer, higher performing vehicles, aluminum will continue to be a growing part of the solution.”

The Aluminum Association provided docketed comments and comprehensive safety and cost benefit research to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of their most recent fuel economy rulemaking.