A review of light duty passenger car weight reduction impact on CO2 emission

Over the last few decades, we have witnessed a significant increase in average temperatures all over the globe. Global warming has been now recognised as one of the major problems facing our world. In addition to natural processes, urbanisation, industrialisation, fossil fuel consumption, deforestation and other human activities have also contributed to excessive levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, resulting in drastic climate change. This study investigates the relation between vehicle weight and CO2 emission for light-duty passenger cars. This study also analyses the fuel consumption in different cases. The evaluation of emissions is based on the CO2 composition of the total emission. Results show the relationship among weight, fuel consumption and CO2 emission. Under these circumstances, the most important way of reducing fuel consumption is to make the mass of the vehicle as small as possible when vehicle speed is constant. Various industry-wide technology adoptions on manufacturing methodologies to make vehicles' bodywork lighter are reviewed.