German carmaker Mercedes-Benz said its new electric CLA car will emit 40pc less CO₂ across its life cycle than its petrol predecessor, helped by aluminium from Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro's Ardal plant and other supply-chain changes, a spokesperson told Argus.
The CO₂ cut spans the "entire value chain", the spokesperson said, which typically means production and upstream materials, but will not use phase emissions like those generated by an EV's electricity source.
The CLA model uses aluminium certified at 3kg of CO₂ per kg of metal — including mining, refining, smelting and casting — compared with a global average of 16.7kg. The aluminium also contains 25pc post-consumer scrap.
The car's production is "net carbon-neutral", Mercedes said, but that claim depends on buying offsets for emissions it cannot cut, which investors are often wary of. The firm said its plant runs on 100pc green electricity, mostly with hydropower sourced externally. But its scope 1 emissions, from on-site processes and logistics, and upstream emissions from materials and suppliers, remain.
The company also said its new battery design cuts emissions by about 30pc per cell through renewable energy in anode and cathode production and "net carbon-neutral" cell manufacturing. Mercedes does not make cells in-house, so these cuts come from supplier practices.
The CLA also uses some low-carbon steel following the firm's multiple supply deals, including one with with US-based Nucor for Econiq-RE steel made using 100pc renewable energy, and with the US' Steel Dynamics for more than 50,000 t/yr of CO₂-reduced steel for its Tuscaloosa plant.
Among carmakers, German rival BMW appears to have gone the furthest on factory-level changes, with its Debrecen plant in Hungary due to run on renewable electricity for iX3 output from next month, although its performance depends on Hungary's grid staying clean.
Demand for certified low-carbon aluminium is rising as carmakers seek to cut embedded emissions and avoid future carbon border charges. This is likely to support premiums for Hydro's Reduxa grades and similar products.
But London Metal Exchange aluminium cash prices have held broadly stable in the past year despite bullish demand forecasts, trading at $2,668/t today, broadly in line with $2,610/t on 30 September last year.
