Audi to Use Sustainable Aluminum for Battery Housings in the Future

Audi is still grappling with the diesel scandal and the poor reputation of aluminum and battery production. The company is now making concerted efforts to address these issues. The latest example: Sustainable aluminum that is processed and produced in an environmentally friendly manner and under socially acceptable working conditions throughout the entire process chain.

This is confirmed by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) with a corresponding "Chain of Custody" certificate. In October 2018, the ASI already awarded Audi a certificate for the sustainable assembly of these aluminum components. As a result, the aluminum sheets used in the battery housing of the Audi e-tron are now demonstrably responsibly manufactured throughout the entire value chain, from the extraction of the raw material bauxite to the end product.

Both partners aim to jointly reduce CO2 emissions in the use of aluminum. Audi intends to reduce the CO2 footprint of its products by around 30 percent compared to 2015 across the product life cycle by 2025. There is significant potential in the use of sustainable and responsibly sourced resources.

Hydro is one of the first aluminum manufacturers to offer sustainable, ASI-certified aluminum sheets. The ASI certification includes ecological, social, and economic ethical criteria that apply along the entire value chain from the extraction of the raw material bauxite to the processing, manufacturing, and recycling of aluminum. For example, it evaluates whether a company uses resources efficiently, conducts comprehensive life cycle analyses, and considers repairability and recyclability in product design. Further information at: https://aluminium-stewardship.org

What does this mean?

Even "small things add up" – in this case, sustainable aluminum sheets. The material is among the very resource- and energy-intensive products, whose origin and processing have recently been overshadowed by battery and cell production.