Automotive Engineering - May 2023 - 2

EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
Bill Visnic
Editorial Director
Bill.Visnic@sae.org
Engineering the 'sustainability thing'
Sustainable and sustainability are words
that are fast becoming industry vernacular.
They're woven into executive speeches,
press releases, marketing, and engineers'
messaging. That's because a gospel
of sustainable practices is spreading
fast among the leading automotive
OEMs and their supply base. And as
such a paradigm-setting trend deserves,
we're focusing on it in this month's
Automotive Engineering.
" Meeting the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their needs, " is one
definition of the term. In my view, sustainability
is analogous to efficiency - of the
product, of manufacturing and of human
resources - the equitable
treatment of employees and
the community. At its heart
is a circular economy that's
not just about EVs and climate
change.
Sustainability as an industry
driver has been
growing since the Clean Air
Act and the lean-design
focus of the 1970s-1980s.
Then came the global focus
on climate change. The UN's
pact to limit Earth's warming
to 1.5°C by 2050 requires
a 60% reduction in carbon emissions
by 2035 compared to 2019 levels.
The call to action kindled by government
policy now is a business process.
Efforts thus far are reflected in the
There is no
'silver bullet'
in the mobility
journey.
Reaching a
sustainable
future requires
multi-modal
solutions.
nudging their sub-tier vendors to get
with the program. Sooner or later, Tier
2, 3, and 4 suppliers will be expected to
follow the same Scope 3 and other
guidance that vehicle makers expect of
their Tier 1s. The Scope protocol is not
yet law. Some expect it eventually will
be as regulators tighten the emission
screws going forward.
Engineers ask me if " the sustainability
thing is really just green-washing BS, "
as one put it. No, it's the real deal. As
Maddelein noted, sustainable activities
now are " what we all just do. " Industrywide,
roughly $2 trillion is invested annually
in existing technologies like batteries
and renewable power. These address at
least half of GHG emissions.
To reach net-zero by
2050, however, the world
will need to commit an
additional $3.5 to $5 trillion
per year, according to
BloombergNEF and
McKinsey estimates. It's a
heavy cost burden that's
likely to get heavier.
The U.S. EPA's recently
proposed tailpipe standards
hope to spark a 60%
rise in EV sales in the next
nine years. That target
many 2022 Sustainability Reports published
by OEMs and Tier 1s that have
flooded my inbox. One report, from
Adient clearly charts how the global
seating supplier has integrated sustainable
processes across its enterprise. As a
result, Adient has reduced emissions and
waste, saved cost, and created an operational
culture. VP of engineering Mike
Maddelein gets into detail in our feature
on page 32. He points out that the entire
supply chain is needed for sustainability
to affect real emissions reduction.
The OEMs and Tier 1s currently are
2 May 2023
won't be met if vehicle prices are not
reduced significantly. How much cost
can engineers and suppliers wring out of
batteries in the next two product cycles,
so that today's $60,000 average retail
price of EVs drops to levels that mainstream
buyers can afford?
Engineers solve problems. But as I've
noted on this page, there is no 'silver bullet'
in the mobility journey. Reaching a
sustainable future requires multi-modal
solutions. That includes EVs but also hybrids.
'Green' fuels, including biofuels and
synthetics. Hydrogen. Gen-3 nuclear reactors
on the grid side and in steelmaking.
Innovation! Carbon capture is heretical to
EV cultists - but what solution other
than EVs isn't heretical to them? It is one
option for mitigating the elephant in the
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AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
Automotive Engineering - May 2023

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