1. POLLUTION REDUCTION AND GREEN VEHICLES
This trend is evident both in regulatory changes in various countries, and in technological developments.
From the regulatory perspective, automotive standards have become more rigid, and requirements to meet fuel consumption and pollutant emission targets have been introduced (e.g., Euro6 in Europe and CAFE in the US). From the technological perspective, this trend includes the following:
Reducing Vehicle Weight
The use of alternative materials to manufacture certain automotive parts, in order to lower vehicle weight, reduce fuel consumption, and limit pollutant emissions.
The demand for these products is constantly increasing. According to the US Energy Administration, reducing vehicle weight by 10% can reduce fuel consumption by 6%–8%. However, the use of alternative materials for vehicle production is limited by the regulator (for reasons such as safety and reliability) and by consumer preferences. This creates the need to develop alternative materials that can effectively replace iron and steel, such as magnesium and carbon fibers that can potentially reduce the weight of certain vehicle parts by up to 75%.
Several Israeli companies are currently in advanced stages of manufacturing vehicle components, using plastic, aluminum, various alloys (e.g., magnesium and zinc), and more. These companies include Raval, Tadir-Gan, MPE, Omen Casting Group and Arkal.
Alternative Propulsion Systems
The use of different types of motors and fuels, which can replace the traditional polluting propulsion systems that operate on diesel and petrol.
Highly pollutant propulsion systems and new rigid regulations led various automakers to develop alternative propulsion systems that use fuels other than diesel and petrol. These systems include electric ignition, the use of natural gas and liquid hydrogen, and more. Vehicles that use propulsion systems of this kind have been manufactured in the past and some are currently in use on a relatively wide scale. However, the existing solutions suffer from several significant disadvantages compared to the traditional propulsion system, such as high cost, storage difficulties, short driving range and lack of infrastructure. Work is underway to develop a propulsion system with advantages over oil-based ignition that overcome these disadvantages.
In Israel, the Israel Fuel Choices Initiative at the Prime Minister's Office has signed agreements with Fiat Chrysler, Iveco and Magneti Marelli to develop natural gas-based fuels, which may be the basis for international cooperation.
