Research commissioned and funded by The Aluminum Association’s Aluminum Transportation Group has studied the content and economics of aluminum in EVs.

In a White Paper, authors from FEV Consulting, Novelis and Constellium found that current BEVs have a higher aluminum content than comparable ICE vehicles and that aluminum content rises as EV size and performance rise.

“Despite expected improvements in battery cost and storage density, aluminum lightweighting solutions are expected to remain economically attractive for at least the next decade,” the authors write. “Lightweighting battery-electric vehicles with aluminum provides additional economic benefits when the entire sales fleet is considered, creating additional economic benefit and further increasing the economic viability of aluminum lightweighting.” To examine this, the researchers pieced together a cross-section of current vehicles, including a small city vehicle, a midsize family crossover vehicle and a large pickup truck.

“The new data quantifies and reaffirms that as battery-electric vehicles become more widely available, reducing mass through the application of aluminum, at optimized levels, offers significant net cost savings,” said study co-author Blake Zuidema.

Source: Aluminum Transportation Group