Porsche and Norwegian aluminum company Hydro have contractually specified the possibility of delivering carbon-reduced primary aluminum as well as secondary aluminum with a high proportion of recycled material. Within their technical collaboration, Porsche and Hydro are also testing where aluminum with an even higher proportion of recycled material can be used.

Porsche is working towards a carbon-neutral balance sheet across its value chain for its newly produced cars by 2030; aluminum is an important part of this.

Last year, the partners announced their co-operation with a Letter of Intent (LOI). They have now specified their delivery targets: for widespread use in its sports car production, Porsche and its suppliers will have access to carbon-reduced aluminum with an ecological footprint of less than 4 kg of CO₂ per kg of aluminum.

Renewable energy will be used in the production of this raw material. Hydro will produce the primary metal in Norway using electricity from renewable sources, mainly from hydro power. This reduces the carbon footprint of the light alloy by about 75% compared to the global average of primary aluminum production. The carbon footprint specifies the quantity of greenhouse gases released and refers to all the emissions from the mining to the resulting raw material.

The two companies are not only aiming to further reduce these total emissions, they also want to increase their use of secondary materials from post-consumer scrap. These are materials disposed of by private households or commercial, industrial and institutional facilities after a product has been used.

It is expected that by 2027/2028, Hydro will be supplying carbon-reduced aluminum with a recycled proportion of at least 75%. Porsche and Hydro are also testing the areas of the car in which aluminum with an even higher proportion of recycled material can be used.

As a lightweight material, aluminum is playing an increasingly important role for electric cars in particular. For example, it makes up around 30% of the total weight of the Taycan. Apart from the front and rear aprons, the entire shell of the electric sports car is made of aluminum.