NanoSteel shared an infographic that illustrates the benefit and cost efficiency of automotive lightweighting as a principal solution to improving fuel economy with the global automotive and steel communities that came together at the Great Designs in Steel conference. There can be advantages to losing weight in the body of a vehicle, and the impact of this low weight compounds through secondary systems such as the powertrain and suspension. The result is a 6%–8% improvement in fuel economy for a 10% reduction in vehicle weight. Additionally, the lower spending on gas that results from the fuel economy improvements achieved through weight reduction can be accomplished without affecting the driving experience. For these reasons, lightweighting will become increasingly important as the global automotive industry works to achieve the US CAFE standards targets of 54.5MPG by 2025. Within the ecosystem of advanced automotive materials, innovative steel technology is well positioned to meet these new fuel economy standards and get us where we want to go.
