Although cars have been around for more than a century, the material making them up has mostly stayed the same–steel. It’s only been the last 25 years or so that advanced materials, ranging from aluminum and magnesium alloys to carbon fiber composites, have made their way into mass produced passenger cars. These lightweight materials can cut a vehicle’s body and chassis weight in half—helping to increase fuel economy as well as the overall range of hybrids, plug-ins and all-electric cars. A majority of the statistics referenced in this story come from "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: The Evolution of Technology for Materials Processing over the Last 50 Years: The Automotive Example" published in the Journal of Metals, 31 (4):48-57.