New emissions and fuel economy standards to integrate more aluminium into heavy-duty vehicles

<p>On August 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation&rsquo;s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized new emissions and fuel economy standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. They have listed benchmarks for cutting emissions from heavy duty trucks and increasing efficiency. While doing so, they have cited use of aluminium components like wheels, extrusions and sheet to achieve light-weighting in such heavy duty applications. <br /><br />According to the Phase 2 rule of the agency, trucking efficiencies need to improve up to 25 per cent by 2027 in order to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the freight transportation activities in the U.S.<br /><br />Commenting on this context, Curt Wells, director of regulatory affairs at the Aluminium Association said, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re pleased that the agencies recognized the contribution that aluminium &ndash; along with other lightweight material solutions &ndash; can play in helping OEMs meet the ambitious new targets set out in the rule&rdquo;.<br /><br />According to a research report by Ricardo Consulting Engineers an &ldquo;aluminium-intensive&rdquo; Class 8 commercial tractor-trailer could reduce vehicle weight by 3,300 pounds. The report also says that 5.5 per cent improvement in fuel economy can be achieved from 10 per cent of weight reduction in a vehicle.<br /><br />Another ground breaking fact revealed by the study says that replacing the fleet of Class 8 tractor-trailers with aluminium-intensive models would save 9.3 million tons of CO2 annually that forms about 1 per cent of Phase 2&rsquo;s 1.1 billion ton of CO2 target.<br /><br />Ford revolutionized the pickup truck market by converting its flagship F-150 2015 model from steel body to aluminium. Ford will continue to apply the same strategy to its more powerful Super Duty line in 2017.<br /><br />Even when Ford introduced aluminium into its Super Duty, they doubled down on steel in truck&rsquo;s backbone. While F-150 shed nearly 38 per cent of a ton by converting to aluminium, Super Duty shed about 50%, because of the more rigid steel frame &ndash; this helped rocket Super Duty to best in class towing.<br /><br />&ldquo;This weight savings enabled us to strengthen key truck components, such as a heavier-duty fully boxed frame, axles, suspension and towing hardware, and still end up with a truck that&rsquo;s 350 pounds lighter than its predecessor,&rdquo; says Mike Levine, Ford&rsquo;s North America product communications manager.<br /><br /><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/heavy%20vehicle.jpg" alt="News" width="512" height="341" /><br />&nbsp;<br />Aluminium&rsquo;s entry in truck sector started long back though it was not as easy and smooth as in Ford&rsquo;s F-Series.<br /><br />Freightliner introduced the first all-aluminium cab in 1942 and now all its on-highway tractors feature one. Peterbilt has been using an aluminium cab for nearly three generations. Others like Volvo, Mack and Western Star are still in favour of steel.<br /><br />Aluminium conversion has been smooth in case of truck wheels. According to Timothy Weir, Accuride&rsquo;s director of public affairs, aluminium wheels form about 50 per cent of the company&rsquo;s total wheel sales, a trend that is expected to go up further by 2027. <br /><br />Use of aluminium in trucks and other heavy duty carriers are bound to increase considering the growing emphasis on fuel economy an carbon emission and this will open up more avenues for&nbsp; aluminium makers to venture into value added products. <br /><br /></p>