At Kautex, we consider ourselves stakeholders in creating a sustainable future. Sustainability requires that we think ahead and build a foundation on which our business can flourish in future. We aim to create sustainable products, raw materials, processes and much more, while evaluating the risks that climate change brings to the business and to the next generation.
The term Well to Wheel (WtW) originally refers to the production of oil (well = well, borehole, oil well) to the tire (wheel) of a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. It is the first step in comparing the efficiency of different solutions towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. WtW assesses the life cycle of everything that goes into making a product, considering all phases of its life cycle - from the extraction of raw materials, to making the product, to its use and ongoing environmental impact.
When comparing the CO2 emissions of different powertrain fuels from a Well to Wheel perspective, emissions significantly decrease from Petrol (140 g/km) with the highest emissions, to Diesel (130 g/km), to PHEV (100 g/km), to full Battery Electric Vehicles (<60 g/km) with the lowest emissions. While Kautex is investigating sustainable materials, aiming to increase energy efficiency and cascading climate targets and actions to suppliers as part of our sustainability roadmap, it is also relevant to us to help further reduce the CO2 footprint of vehicles by providing innovative products to our customers.
Our Pentatonic Battery System for example weights up to 50% less that its steel counterparts. This weight reduction, in turn, improves the range of the battery-driven system, improves energy consumption and further benefits CO2 emissions along the complete supply chain.