Lightweight Materials on the Rise, Despite Increasing Vehicle Mass in U.S.

The average passenger vehicle in the U.S. gained 300 lbs over 20 years, going from 3,694 lbs in 1995 to 3,994 lbs in 2014, according to an analysis by the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The increase, which is attributed to larger vehicles and a higher percentage of light trucks, would have been even greater if not for the continued transition away from traditional steel toward lightweight materials to boost fuel efficiency, DOE notes.  

The use of regular steel has declined by more than 250 lbs per vehicle from 1995 to about 1,380 lbs in 2014, while the average weight of iron-castings plunged 42% to 271 lbs. At the same time, the use of high- and medium-strength steels doubled to nearly 650 lbs in 2014.

Meanwhile, aluminum use soared 72% during the period from 231 lbs in 1995 to 398 lbs in 2014. And the use of plastics and composites grewe nearly 40% (from 240 lbs to 329 lbs) and lightweight magnesium castings more than doubled (from 4 lbs to 11 lbs) in dashboards and other interior applications such as seat components.

The full report is available here.