Stellantis study explores benefits of aluminium-intensive EV design

A joint study by Stellantis and Alumobility found that an aluminium-intensive vehicle design could significantly reduce vehicle weight and battery requirements while maintaining driving range.

Presented at EuroCarBody 2026 in Germany, the study used Stellantis’ STLA Medium platform as a reference to evaluate the impact of replacing conventional steel-intensive architecture with a design built around aluminium components.

According to the study, the aluminium-intensive concept reduced body-in-white mass by 41 per cent, from 652 kilograms to 405 kilograms. When secondary effects across the vehicle were considered, total vehicle mass was reduced by approximately 20 per cent, representing a weight savings of 421 kilograms.

The study also identified the potential to reduce battery capacity by 15 per cent while maintaining comparable driving range. Researchers said the lower vehicle weight created opportunities to optimize other systems, including the electric drive motor, brakes and suspension.

“The study shows that the greatest value of lightweighting is not limited to the mass removed from the body structure,” said Christophe Patois, senior vice-president, global head of body, safety and quality at Stellantis.

Researchers also found the design reduced body structure part counts by 27 per cent and improved structural efficiency while meeting or exceeding crash-performance targets.

According to the study, energy consumption decreased from 140 watt-hours per kilometre to 122 watt-hours per kilometre under the project’s assumptions while maintaining similar range.