Lighter Doors Make a Massive Difference for 2025 (To Say Nothing of the Rest of the Closures)

摘要

Although the acronym for the Coalition for Automotive Lightweight Materials, which is under the aegis of the Center for Automotive Research (cargroup.org), is CALM, while it might be an exaggeration to say that those who are looking at the future of automotive materials are agitated, being in a calm state is probably something that they're not feeling at the moment. But a co-development subgroup of CALM decided that they would work to make an assessment of the challenge being faced by the auto industry in terms of reducing vehicle weight in part to help meet fuel economy standards. The group knows that there will be modifications to powertrain, aerodynamics and other elements of vehicles, but they also reckon that a 10 percent vehicle mass reduction can result in fuel economy improvements on the order of 6 to 8 percent. Mass matters. A lot.