In August 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a joint final rule for Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for 2017-2025. The rule covering passenger vehicles and light trucks dramatically increases the required average fuel economy to 49.6 mpg and an average emissions level of 163 grams of CO2 per mile in 2025. This represents a 5% year-over-year increase in fuel efficiency beginning in 2017.
At first glance, this substantial increase in fuel economy standards would appear to be an enormous driver for auto and truck manufacturers to comprehensively reexamine how they are producing vehicles. Undoubtedly, one aspect of that would include shedding weight through an increased usage of lightweight materials. This change has already begun in the airline industry as airplanes are being redesigned and manufactured with composite materials replacing aluminum in major structural components for the first time. A similar change to the auto and light truck market could represent a huge opportunity for structural adhesive producers.
However, a closer look at the details of the regulation and what it means to auto and light truck manufacturers shows that such a correlation isn’t as easy to draw as it first appears. The new CAFE standards are based on a number of assumptions, including technological improvements of drivetrain components (primarily engine- and transmission-based efficiencies), a move toward electric and hybrid drivetrains, as well as mass (weight) reduction. But none of these assumptions are intended to require massive reengineering of how vehicles are produced, nor do they require rapid adoption of new technologies.
Since the early 1980s, cars and light trucks have steadily increased in weight (see Figure 1). This is due to a number of factors, including consumer preference for larger vehicles—as seen in the emergence of new classes of vehicles like SUVs and minivans—as well as an increase in both safety and amenity items, including air bags, anti-lock brakes, power windows and locks, and additional noise insulation (NVH).