From how we drive them to how they will eventually drive us, vehicles are changing but safety is non-negotiable. Every aluminum-bodied vehicle crash tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) earned a four-or five-star rating. Even the U.S. military trusts high-strength aluminum alloys in combat vehicles to protect our troops in some of the world’s most unforgiving environments.

Size, not weight, is the leading automotive safety determinant. Aluminum can be used to maintain or even increase the size and energy absorption capacity of a vehicle’s critical front-and back-end crumple zones without increasing overall weight. And, because aluminum is approximately one-third the weight of steel, aluminum can reduce body weight safely by 40% while high-strength steel taps out at 11% body weight savings before safety is compromised.

As the industry embarks on the next phase of electrification, mass reduction with aluminum remains a critical component to achieving cost effective weight and emission reductions without adverse effects to safety.