The following study examines how the costs and benefits of improving fuel economy of vehicles via lightweighting with aluminum closures change with gas price. A process-based cost model is used to evaluate the costs of lightweighting with aluminum for six representative vehicles, and an industry choice-based conjoint decision analysis market model is used to evaluate the benefits of lightweighting given a 0.5mpg increase in fuel economy. Vehicles were examined by class size. Compact car owners were observed to be willing to pay for improved fuel economy but consumer preferences indicate insufficient willingness to pay to cover the costs of lightweighting with aluminum for a representative compact car, the Toyota Corolla. However, no conclusion can be made as to whether larger car owners are or are not willing to pay for improved fuel economy.
The influence of fuel price on an automaker's decision to lightweight cars via materials substitution
2009
47 pages
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2009.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 32-33).
Hochschulschrift
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
42-V battery requirements from an automaker's perspective
Online Contents | 2002
|Downwardly Mobile - Are luxury automaker's going up or down?
Online Contents | 2003
Optimal Substitution of Lightweight Materials in Automobiles
Kraftfahrwesen | 1980
|