Supporting Infrastructure and Acceptability Issues for Materials Used in New Generation Vehicles
To achieve its goal of producing vehicles that use two thirds less fuel than current vehicles, the Partnership of a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) is designing vehicles that will use lightweight materials in place of heavier materials used in current vehicles. using new materials in automobiles will require the development of a supporting infrastructure to produce both the substitute materials and the components of the substitute materials, as well as the automotive parts constructed from the new materials. This report documents a set of analyses that attempt to identify potential barriers--economic, infrastructure, and public acceptance barriers--to the materials substitution in New Generation Vehicles. The analyses rely on hypothetical vehicle market penetration scenarios and material composition. The approach is comprehensive, examining issues ranging from materials availability to their eventual disposition and its effect on the automobile recycling industry, and from supporting industries' capacity to the public acceptability of these vehicles. The analyses focus on two likely substitute materials, aluminum and glass-reinforced polymer composites.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Transportation Technologies (EE-30) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-96OR22464
- OSTI ID:
- 6657
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/TM-13731; TRN: AH200116%%359
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Mar 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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United States Automotive Materials Partnership LLC (USAMP)