GM's battery-powered car has an all-aluminum body

摘要

GM plans 10 have the EV1 roll off the line at the automaker's Craft Center in Lansing, Mich., in time to hit showrooms this fall in Los Angeles. San Diego. Phoenix, and Tucson. It will be priced in the mid-30.000s dollars. Although the EV1 is a limited-production vehicle, automakers could use A VT for high-volume production, Rinchart says. A VT is compatible with the other technologies and manufacturing processes used today for high-volume production, Alcan says. Aluminum currently has a 6-percent content share of the North American auto market, Alcan says. The overall aluminum content in cars has risen 3-4 percent a year for the past 15 years, says Charles Bradford, a metals analyst at UBS Securities. Bradford expects these steady increases to continue. Much of the growth has been in such areas as the drive train, chassis, and other under-the-hood applications. Aluminum companies will push for more aluminum use in those parts and in exterior-body applications.