JLR uses aluminium for greater efficiency

In 1948, Land Rover built its first Defender vehicle with a body made not from steel, which was scarce and expensive after the second world war, but of aluminium.

Sixty-five years later, Jaguar Land Rover’s cutting-edge new Range Rover model is built from the same metal, but for different reasons.

“Lightweighting” is one of the car industry’s most important areas of innovation, as manufacturers fight to make vehicles more efficient and less polluting, and aluminium is about 40 per cent lighter than conventional steel. As some engineering teams vie to squeeze more output from smaller engines, others are working to make vehicle parts lighter. The spur is provided by government regulations requiring cars to use less energy.

“Lightweighting is critical to ensuring fuel efficiency,” says Anil Valsan, lead automotive analyst at EY, the professional services firm.

Carmakers will spend an average of $500 a vehicle to reduce weight over the next few years, according to Xavier Mosquet, managing director at Boston Consulting Group.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) runs the world’s largest aluminium body shop in Solihull in the UK’s West Midlands. It manufactures the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport from the metal, reducing each vehicle’s weight by some 500kg – or roughly 20 per cent.

Consumer demand for more space, added features and improved safety has meant that average car weights have increased by about a quarter over the 30 years to 2006, according to research from Accenture.

Now, strict government targets are forcing carmakers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions drastically. While engine technology is helping, lighter vehicles can also boost efficiency. Compared with the Range Rover’s steel-built predecessor, the new model uses 22 per cent less fuel.

It is not just about getting the overall weight down. JLR’s aluminium Range Rovers, each held together by 3,722 rivets, require no welding, thereby reducing energy use and cooling requirements at the factory.

JLR, which will use aluminium across its forthcoming Jaguar family of entry-level luxury cars, is not the only manufacturer using the metal; Audi and Aston Martin are also looking to exploit its advantages.

Hybrid structures incorporating both aluminium and steel parts have been used in mass-market cars for about 20 years. Now many see Ford’s new version of its F-150 pick-up truck, which is expected to rely heavily on aluminium for its body panels when released next year, as the metal’s big breakthrough.

But the higher cost of producing aluminium means that it is not always suitable for the cheaper end of the volume market, and shifting materials and changing production techniques are not simple.