Heavier vehicles use larger engines, bulkier drivetrains, and more massive chassis, and require more energy to accelerate, decelerate, and overcome rolling resistance. They also deliver more kinetic energy to other vehicles in automotive crashes.
Lightweight materials are critical to the development of highly fuel-efficient vehicles.
Since 1991, the DOE has worked with automobile manufacturers and their suppliers to develop lighter materials for primary structural applications. The challenge facing these programs is to produce lighter materials at production rates and costs comparable to those of current materials. However, the cost of these materials, design capabilities, and associated manufacturing processes are still inadequate to produce cost-effective vehicles. The goal is to give automotive designers multiple material options for future structures by removing technical and economic obstacles to producing advanced materials. Metals and reinforced polymers are the two families of materials now under development.