Pioneering research and skills
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Car diets Research at the EPSRC-funded Loughborough University Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre has helped replace copper wiring used in cars with printed flexible circuits. The techniques have been adopted by Mercedes, Vauxhall and BMW and have resulted in the weight of a car being reduced by between 40 and 70 kilogrammes. The reduced weight leads to lower fuel consumption, and the technique uses fewer materials than previous methods, so is more resource-efficient. Initial production cost savings are estimated at between ÂŁ130 and ÂŁ240 per car.
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