The next car you buy will probably be lighter, courtesy of federal mandates to increase average gas mileage by 30% to 40% over the next five years. Automakers figure the easiest and cheapest way to cut fuel consumption is to make passenger cars, which now weigh about 3,500 pounds on average, about 400 pounds lighter.
Under Uncle Sam’s new rules, the current 27.5 miles per gallon minimum for passenger cars will jump to 33.8 mpg for 2012 models and 39.5 mpg for 2016 models. A similar phased-in approach for light trucks will require them to average 29.8 mpg for 2016 models.
The upshot: Heated competition between steel and aluminum manufacturers for a larger slice of the lucrative pie. Aluminum makers have a weighty advantage and are aiming to use it to muscle out steel for use in vehicle roofs and other body panels, engines and structural components.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Manufacturers such as Alcoa, Rio Tinto Alcan and Novelis are developing aluminum products with greater strength to better stand up to the everyday dings that cars pick up in parking lots and elsewhere, as well as specialty versions for use in bumpers that crumple to absorb the force of a collision. The aluminum industry is honing its strategy to win a large chunk of the plug-in electric car market that will take off within five years.
Steelmakers are fighting back with a lighter generation of high-strength steel.Thanks to research stretching back 20 years, automotive steel today weighs around 25% less than it did during the heyday of muscle cars in the 1960s and 1970s. Automakers including Ford routinely use this steel in key structural components in auto body pillars and panels.
Now steelmakers are on the cusp of commercializing a breakthrough product that is not only 10% lighter yet, but stronger and more easily molded. “This third-generation product will enable us to make auto parts that are much lighter than today because the steel can be made thinner with no compromise in strength,” says Ronald Krupitzer, a vice president for automotive applications with the American Iron and Steel Institute, a trade group.
Down the road, look for steel and aluminum to be challenged by an even-lighter-weight contender -- composite carbon fiber. Long used in aerospace and for pricey bicycles and tennis rackets, the pricey material has been finding its way into exotic cars such as Chevrolet’s Corvette ZR-1.
Odds are the price differential between carbon fiber and aluminum and steel will narrow by decade’s end, thanks in part to research and development at the Department of Energy’s laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and at Magna International, Canada’s largest automotive parts supplier.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Rally Despite Rising Geopolitical TensionThe main indexes were mixed on Tuesday but closed well off their lows after an early flight to safety.
-
What's at Stake for Alphabet as DOJ Eyes Google's ChromeAlphabet is higher Tuesday even as antitrust officials at the DOJ support forcing Google to sell its popular web browser. Here's what you need to know.
-
Kiplinger Outlook: Telecom Companies Brace for Tough TimesThe Letter The telecom industry is entering a new era that threatens profitability. But the coming Trump administration will make it easier for the major players to adjust.
-
Start-ups Trying to (Profitably) Solve the World’s Hardest ProblemsThe Letter More investors are interested in companies working on breakthrough science to tackle huge societal challenges. The field of deep tech has major tailwinds, too.
-
The Big Questions for AR’s FutureThe Letter As Meta shows off a flashy AR prototype, Microsoft quietly stops supporting its own AR headset. The two companies highlight the promise and peril of AR.
-
China's Economy Faces Darkening OutlookThe Letter What the slowdown in China means for U.S. businesses.
-
AI Start-ups Keep Scoring Huge SumsThe Kiplinger Letter Investors continue to make bigger bets on artificial intelligence start-ups, even for small teams with no revenue. Some backers think a startling tech breakthrough is near.
-
Should We Worry About the Slowing U.S. EconomyThe Letter With the labor market cooling off and financial markets turning jittery, just how healthy is the economy right now?
-
New Phones Get All the Hype, but Consumers Still Love Old Models
The Letter Even as flashy artificial intelligence features drive sales of new smartphones, used phones continue to fetch big bucks as demand outstrips supply.
-
Starlink's Internet Beamed From Space Is Taking OffThe Kiplinger Letter Satellite broadband provider Starlink is taking over the space market. Amazon’s mega-constellation will soon join the fray, adding to the unprecedented disruption.
