Reduced environmental impact in vehicle manufacturing using composites

Possibilities with sustainable composites

The use phase constitutes the largest part of a vehicle's total emissions of carbon dioxide. Electrification of the transport fleet has been seen as the main way forward to reach the goal of zero emissions before the year 2050. Beside this, it is a reduced environmental impact in material production that would provide the greatest environmental benefit from a life cycle perspective.

The project will analyze, test and evaluate the entire value chain for sustainable composites towards the automotive industry. Both heavy and light vehicles are taken into account when construction details for a passenger car and a truck are to be developed and analyzed.

The sustainable composites focused on in this project can, in addition to reducing emissions from material production, also enable lighter vehicles that have a significant effect on its energy efficiency. It affects range, required battery size, cost and thus the overall competitiveness of the vehicle.

After completing the project, the goal is to:

• Have developed concepts with potential to reduce component-related carbon dioxide emissions during the life cycle by more than 50%.
• The project shall lead to three subsequent development projects with a large industrial commitment, which shall be initiated within 1 year after the end of the project.
• The project shall lead to two new sustainable material types implemented in the product portfolios of the participating component manufacturers within 8 years after the end of the project. This is expected to lead to breakthroughs for more components and use cases outside of the sectors involved in this project.
• The project has identified and ranked important development areas for sustainable structural composites.
• The project has identified and ranked vehicle components in need of redesign from an environmental perspective.