Losing weight
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• The possibility of lighter commercial vehicles has been opened up by Alcan and Ford with the development of an aluminium bodyshell for cars. By redesigning components to take account of the lightweight metal's properties, similar strength can be achieved with a weight saving of between 46 and 52%, says Akan. Tooling costs are similar to those for working with sheet steel, but aluminium also has the advantages of not rusting and being more easily recycled. Alcan says that using aluminium for truck cabs mounted on a chassis is easier than for monocoque cars.
Prototype cars (47% lighter than steel) have been tested for over 50,000 miles of rough road without failures. In the US it has been calculated that a 25% reduction in body weight would give a 20% improvement in fuel economy.
Other metals such as manganese offers even greater weight savings but with a tensile strength lower than aluminium, its use is limited.