Sumitomo Global – Ford’s Weight Loss Goal.
Sumitomo Global: The Ford Motor Co. has announced a plan to make each of its automobiles significantly lighter by the year 2020.
The Ford Motor Co. has announced a plan to make each of its automobiles between 250 and 750 pounds (114 to 341 kilograms) lighter by the year 2020. A lighter car is more energy efficient and Sumitomo Global expects this to become a more important factor in the eyes of consumers with oil prices continuing to rise and greater restrictions placed on fuel economy.
The United States government has set an average fuel efficiency target for new trucks and cars at 54.5 miles to the gallon (or around 23 kilometers to the liter) sold from 2025 on.
“Reducing weight will benefit the efficiency of every Ford vehicle,” according to Ford’s chief technical officer Paul Mascarenas. “However, it is particularly critical to improving the range of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles.”
Sumitomo Global believes that a large portion of the weight saving will be carried out through Ford’s joint venture with Dow Automotive Systems, a unit of Dow Chemicals. The principal goal of the collaboration is to develop cheaper carbon fiber manufacturing processes.
While carbon fiber is expensive, it is only one quarter the weight of steel and provides ten times the strength. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, using carbon instead of steel could reduce a vehicle’s weight by up to 50 percent, with a ten percent weight reduction resulting in an 8 percent increase in fuel efficiency.
If the joint venture is successful, Sumitomo Global expects to see ford automobiles featuring carbon fiber components towards the end of the decade.
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