Quantify material savings from vehicle power regulation

Quantify the material savings that could result from regulating the power of newly sold road vehicles, particularly through policies that cap vehicle power to reduce the mass of materials immobilized in the U.S. vehicle fleet.

Background

The paper finds that vehicle power is strongly correlated with vehicle mass and argues that limiting the power of newly sold vehicles could reduce the quantity of materials immobilized in the fleet without compromising vehicle use. It discusses power caps and lower speed limits as potential policy interventions to curb vehicle oversizing and material demand during fleet electrification.

Although the paper identifies these interventions as potentially effective, it does not quantify their material consequences. The unresolved problem is therefore to estimate the material savings attributable to power regulation, a question the authors identify as a priority for future work.