The use of primary aluminum also makes a lot of sense if sustainably produced aluminum is used for this purpose. Aluminum produced with renewable energy achieves a footprint of 4 kilograms of CO₂ per kilogram of aluminum. If the CO₂ quantification is below 8 kilograms per kilogram of aluminum, production is more sustainable than steel.
“Aluminum makes the vehicle lighter. For internal combustion engines this means that the efficiency of the energy balance is better, which means lower fuel consumption,” Dr. Rudlaff says.
For electric vehicles, energy consumption also decreases sharply when vehicles are lighter. For example, for a vehicle with an unladen weight of 1,600 kilograms compared to a vehicle with an unladen weight of 1,500 kilograms, the lighter vehicle saves approximately 1 kilowatt hour per 100 kilometers. This means that the battery could be 6 percent smaller to generate the same range.
Making the battery smaller is worthwhile financially, as its raw materials and production are very cost-intensive, and it also has a positive impact on the carbon footprint because the smaller battery is much less resource intensive. “The beauty is that you get the same acceleration performance with a smaller battery,” says Dr. Rudlaff.