Triple Safety: Lightweighting Automobiles to Improve Occupant, Highway, and Global Safety

Abstract

Automobilesʼ negative impact on human health and welfare includes traffic-related deaths and injuries as well as the deaths and injuries caused by automobilesʼ contribution to climate change and other global environmental degradation. This paper explores solutions that both enhance vehicle performance and reduce environmental impacts, and focuses on demonstrating the ability of lightweight vehicles to provide such a solution. Some controversy exists around the question of whether lighter and more fuel-efficient vehicles can be as safe as traditional vehicles. Recent research reviewed in this paper indicates that several solutions exist that can both improve efficiency and thereby global safety, and maintain (or even improve) highway safety.

Understanding parasitic energy costs for PHEV conversion packs as we move toward V2G

“…Underutilisation of the newly installed supplemental battery pack will be unnecessary weight for the PHEV to carry around. Similar advantages will be gained if consumers adapt their automotive expectations to accept smaller automobiles composed of novel, lighter materials which would offset the mass increase necessary even in optimised, extended range PHEVs and guarantee overall energy savings (Lovins, 2010;Schewel, 2008).…”

Lightweight Composite Materials for Heavy Duty Vehicles

“…Increased costs for lighter and stronger materials result from higher material costs and higher costs of component fabrication and joining. It is estimated that every 10 percent reduction in vehicle weight will result an approximate 7 percent saving in fuel (Reinforced Plastics, 2005;Schewel, 2008). Estimates of the body-mass reduction that can be achieved in the near term vary from 10% (with mostly conventional and high-strength steels) to 50% (with a mostly aluminum structure).…”

A market systems analysis of the U.S. Sport Utility Vehicle market considering frontal crash safety technology and policy

“…A key finding of these studies is that increased vehicle mass and size correspond with improved onroad safety, both of which can be explained using fundamental physics. Advanced active safety features such as forward collision warning and emergency brake assistance are emerging in new vehicles to improve crash avoidance, and preliminary analyses estimate their potential to save thousands of lives in the United States (U.S.) each year [9]. However, the aforementioned consumer risk compensation may attenuate these projected safety benefits.…”