Jaguar EV to use recycled-content aluminum

Atlanta-based Novelis has announced it will supply its Advanz recycled-content aluminum to be used in Jaguar’s new I-PACE electric vehicle (EV). The aluminum producer says its product’s use in Jaguar’s first all-electric vehicle will help reduce the I-PACE’s overall weight and increase it battery range up to 470 kilometers (292 miles) “while delivering superior driving dynamics and safety.”

“Novelis is proud to be a key supplier of aluminum sheet to Jaguar Land Rover, enabling novel, lightweight construction platforms and being part of their new era of electrification,” says Michael Hahne, vice president for automotive with Zurich, Switzerland-based Novelis Europe. “Lightweighting is one of the key success factors for electrification, and the new I-PACE is a major milestone in car body engineering, placing Jaguar at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution.”

The I-PACE is designed and engineered by Jaguar Land Rover in the United Kingdom and assembled in Austria as part of a manufacturing partnership with Magna Steyr. The Novelis aluminum products used in the I-PACE are sourced from plants in Sierre, Switzerland and Nachterstedt, Germany.

Novelis says the EV and its use of Advanz “reflects Novelis’ and Jaguar Land Rover’s common vision of delivering a cleaner future and more sustainable vehicles.” Since 2013, the Novelis facility in Latchford, U.K., has provided the British car manufacturer with a closed-loop system by converting the car maker’s aluminum production scrap metal into new automotive sheet material.

The aluminum producer also says EV growth “is projected to increase significantly in the next decade, leading to changes in physical and functional requirements in body-in-white, impacting future vehicle design.”

Novelis Inc., a subsidiary of India-based Hindalco Industries Limited and part of the Mumbai-based Aditya Birla Group, describes itself as the world’s largest recycler of aluminum. The company operates in 10 countries, has approximately 11,000 employees and had $11.5 billion in revenue in its 2018 fiscal year. Novelis supplies aluminum sheet and foil products to transportation, packaging, construction, industrial and consumer electronics markets in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.