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Title: Vehicle Lightweighting: 40% and 45% Weight Savings Analysis: Technical Cost Modeling for Vehicle Lightweighting

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1186760· OSTI ID:1186760

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office, Materials area commissioned a study to model and assess manufacturing economics of alternative design and production strategies for a series of lightweight vehicle concepts. The strategic targets were a 40% and a 45% mass reduction relative to a standard North American midsize passenger sedan at an effective cost of $3.42 per pound (lb) saved. The baseline vehicle was an average of several available vehicles in this class. Mass and cost breakdowns from several sources were used, including original equipment manufacturers’ (OEMs’) input through U.S. Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office programs and public presentations, A2Mac1 LLC’s teardown information, Lotus Engineering Limited and FEV, Inc. breakdowns in their respective lightweighting studies, and IBIS Associates, Inc.’s decades of experience in automotive lightweighting and materials substitution analyses. Information on lightweighting strategies in this analysis came from these same sources and the ongoing U.S. Department of Energy-funded Vehma International of America, Inc. /Ford Motor Company Multi-Material Lightweight Prototype Vehicle Demonstration Project, the Aluminum Association Transportation Group, and many United States Council for Automotive Research’s/United States Automotive Materials Partnership LLC lightweight materials programs.

Research Organization:
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC07-05ID14517
OSTI ID:
1186760
Report Number(s):
INL/EXT-14-33863
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English