American Axle & Manufacturing (AAM) is the winner of the 2021 Altair Enlighten Award, the automotive industry’s only award dedicated to lightweighting and sustainability. AAM’s innovative next generation electric drive technology was recognized as the winner in the Future of Lightweighting category.
The Altair Enlighten Award, now in its eighth year, honors the greatest achievements in lightweighting and sustainability, recognizing technology advancements that reduce the automotive industry’s carbon footprint and mitigate water and energy consumption, as well as successful efforts in material reuse and recycling. Sparking interest from industry, engineering, policymakers, educators, students, and the public alike, this annual award provides an environment to share the latest technology innovations dedicated to sustainability.
“AAM is committed to advancing lightweighting and sustainability objectives in all of our product, process and systems technologies,” said David C. Dauch, AAM chairman and CEO. “We are honored to receive the Altair Enlighten Award for an innovation that is so important to the future of AAM and the global automotive industry,”
AAM’s next generation Electric Drive Unit (eDU) tightly integrates the electric motor, gearbox and inverter into a single lightweight package. This highly engineered system delivers significant weight reduction when compared to other similar units without sacrificing any power or performance. The eDU is compact and scalable for use in any global vehicle segment from the smallest microcar to the largest SUV or pickup truck application.
“AAM’s engineering team is innovative, creative and laser focused on developing superior electric drive technology. Our newest system is significantly lighter than the competition but still provides unparalleled performance and power,” said Dauch. “We are very excited about the opportunity we have to help our customers improve the efficiency and appeal of their electric vehicles with this ground-breaking technology.”
This is the second time AAM has won the Altair Enlighten Award. In 2018, AAM was the first recipient of the Enlighten Award in the Future of Lightweighting category for lightweighting innovation in conventional driveline technology.
The annual Altair Enlighten Award honors the greatest achievements in vehicle weight savings each year. Inspiring interest from industry, policymakers, educators, students and the public, the award incentivizes automotive lightweighting advancements and provides a global platform to recognize and share technological achievements.
