Technologies of Emission Reduced Light-weight car concepts
SuperLightCar (SLC) is a research project, which is funded by the 6th supporting program of the European Union. 38 leading organisations from 9 European countries work together in order to embed current technologies of the automotive lightweight construction in the mass production. SLC pursues a multi-material approach and aspires to use the best material and the best processes regarding lightweight construction, ecology and costs for every component. The relevant requirements of the automobile industry, such as rigidity, crash behaviour, material fatigue, corrosion protection etc. must be taken into account. The driving force inside the SLC comes from seven European automobile manufacturers: Volkswagen (coordinator), Fiat Research Centre, Opel, Renault, Volvo Technology Centre, Porsche and DaimlerChrysler. Together with first-class research institutions (e.g. Fraunhofer Institut, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt or Commisariat à l´énergie atomique) and the supplying industry (e.g.. Arcelor, Hydro, Corus or Comau) the project was formulated. SLC pursues the ambitious goal to offer technologies and design concepts allowing future vehicles of the C-product line (1000 vehicles per day; e.g. Opel Astra, Renault Megane or VW Golf) to develop with a weight reduction up to 30%, while retaining the challenging cost-containments of this segment. SuperLightCar works together with other projects within the 6th EU supporting program under the patronage of EUCAR (European Council for Automotive Research). The preceding results of the competition of SuperLightCar are supposed to be implemented in the serial production by 2010 and contribute to save millions of tons of fuel and carbon dioxide caused by the reduced weight of the vehicle.
