GM Lightweighting Process Increases Fuel Efficiency
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Making a car lighter is common among performance automakers. Combine a lightweight vehicle with a high-performance powertrain, and you’re on the right track to performance perfection. Colin Chapman founded Lotus with the famous mantra “Simplify, then add lightness,” and that’s been the cornerstone of the company ever since. However, other automakers that don’t make performance cars understand that mantra as well. General Motors is actively looking to cut weight in all its vehicles, but it’s not for speed and performance, it’s for fuel efficiency and savings. A lighter car means an engine doesn’t have to work as hard to make the vehicle move, and this can translate into tremendous savings for consumers.
Look at the part above. GM designed the seat bracket on the right as a proof-of-concept. It’s 40 percent lighter and 20 percent stronger than the original piece on the right. Thanks to advancements in 3D printing, the new seat bracket on the left is now one single part while the original bracket had eight different components.
The CarbonPro truck bed is made up entirely of carbon fiber reinforced plastic – making it more durable and lighter than a standard steel bed.
“We are able to work with a broad material selection and utilize the manufacturing tools and technologies to ‘put the right material in the right place’ while designing a vehicle around a specific customer type,” said Rob Peckham, GM global mass vehicle performance owner.
And that’s not all. In 2016, engineers were able to eliminate 400 pounds from the Camaro. Since that year, the automaker has removed more than 5,000 pounds in total from 14 vehicles across its portfolio. That translates into 35 million gallons of fuel saved per year while reducing emissions.
GM is using advanced materials such as carbon fiber, which is stronger yet lighter than steel. The 2019 GMC Sierra Denali is using the material for the box, saving 62 pounds of weight. GM also uses an extensive amount of aluminum in the new Sierra, shedding 360 pounds over the outgoing model. That said, the new 2019 Silverado 1500 and 2019 Sierra 1500 T1 platform trucks have seen minimal, if any, fuel efficiency gains due to increase in overall size, despite being lighter.
Automakers will continue to design and develop new processes, materials, and lightweight technologies to strengthen vehicles while reducing weight, which offers loads of benefits such as increasing fuel efficiency while reducing noxious emissions.
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All fine, let them use some quality material on interior also. GM has the most low quality interior out.
Nope that’s Ford you’re thinking of. They’re the ones selling F-150’s with dash plastic that’s so cheap it warps after a few months sitting in the sun. The glove box warps so bad that they eventually have a hard time latching shut. The 6th gen Mustang has been criticized for having a lower quality interior than the 6th gen Camaro. And Ford CEO Jim Hackett’s plan to save Ford involves cutting $10 billion in costs out of their vehicles, which almost certainly includes major cuts to the interior’s cost.
To add more, please make the Safety package , adaptive cruise etc part of base package. I don’t think some one can say “our cars offers more safety only if you pay more” ( most other Safety packages are included in basic models )
The gas mileage improvement is minimal or non existence or in some cases less. Even tho the vehicles are lighter the reason given is the the vehicles grew in size. My thinking is that this was to grow interior space,because the bed was inlarged by decreasing the space between the inner and outer walls of the bed. GM need to learn how to grow interior space without adding overall size. That way they can have the best of both worlds more interior room as compared to the competition and a real increase in gas mileage to better the competition.
The heavier the vehicle, the more lightweighting is done to improve payload, not to increase mileage. I wonder when the 3D printed seat bracket reaches an economic level to make it production viable?
That sounds great , but does the new GM Pickups lead in any of those categories?
Don’t know, yet its a work in progress. Gotta keep plugging along with improvements that are low cost and/or bring value to drive sales (IE the composite bed). The ’19 Silverado cut 450 pounds by converting to high strength steels on the body.
Yet in most cases MPG has stayed the same or decreased. In the case of my 2017 Impala 2.5 which didn’t go through a weight loss program as of yet easily outshines it’s EPA ratings especially on the highway. I also know a few 2016-2018 Cruze owners who are seeing as high as mid 40’s with the 1.4T despite it dropping down to only 38 highway for 2019. I can’t wait to get my hands on a 2019 Silverado with the 5.3 DFM engine and 8 speed to see what it really gets in everyday driving.
Aerodynamics has a huge affect on MPG; case in point, you are seeing skirts under trailers on the freeways now and they deliver ~3% fuel economy; and more from the tails. Gearing matters too; my ’90 Ford Ranger V6 had <20 MPG, yet it also had a 5-speed (?). Today's has a 2.7L engine and 10-speed transmission. The '19 Silverado has a host of engine improvements to improve MPG.