Environmental and Economic Effects of Fuel Savings in Driving Phase Resulting from Substitution of Light Metals in European Passenger Car Production

Abstract

The European Union (EU), which realizes one-quarter of the automobile production in the world, has made legal regulations to minimize fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions in the automotive sector, to prevent global warming and climate change. Life cycle analysis for passenger cars revealed that 90% of this effect is caused by the driving phase of the vehicles. One of the practices used in the automotive industry to minimize the impact of these factors is to reduce the vehicle mass as much as possible. Aluminum (Al) and magnesium (Mg) are increasingly preferred lightweight materials, since the weight is a critical design element for automobile production. This study aims to evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of fuel consumption, fuel expense, and CO₂ emission resulting from the driving cycle by creating a mathematical model of the weight savings achieved with Al and Mg substitution in the passenger car fleet produced in the EU. The results show that the average weight reduction per vehicle achieved by substituting light metals in passenger car production in the EU over the past 20 years has reached approximately 11.2% and that the positive effect on fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions in the driving cycle will contribute to environmentally and economically sustainable road transport.