The current generation of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and Full Electric Vehicles (FEVs) are incremental products in which an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) is supplemented by an electric motor (HEVs) or replaced by an all-electric power train (FEVs). Both approaches do not address lightweight or modularity, inheriting the same disadvantages as conventional ICE vehicles. To deliver the potential enviromental and energy benefits of EVs electrification of mobility must face a conceptual rEVOLUTION!
This project breaks the paradigm of current Body-in-White (BiW) by delegating the whole structural function to a novel BiW archetype made up of a Multifunctional-Rolling-Chassis (MRC) enabled by a new generation of highly-hybridized structural components and complemented by a non-structural upper-body. This MRC will be the common basis for a family of user friendly vehicles differing by changing only the upper-body according to the customer demand.
Advanced materials will enable the development of novel super-lightweight hybrid components complying with safety standards and recycling constraints, and enable the design of the innovative MRC for FEV leading to a further weight reduction of 40% over that achieved using the current state of the art in the SuperLIGHT-CAR project. The EVolution goal is to demonstrate the sustainable production of a 600 kg weight FEV by the end of 2015. To this end EVolution addresses the whole vehicle by prototyping, assembling, and disassembling, the most representative components made from raw polymers and aluminum alloys commonly used in the automotive industry, to ensure compliance with EC Directive 2000/53/EC ‘End-of life vehicle’ which imposes stringent requirements on the disposal and recycling of motor vehicles.
Guaranteeing the safety and regulatory compliance, with a weight saving of 50%, each component chosen will prove, mutatis mutandis, the revolutionary potential of the EV solution in all components employed today in current high volume production.
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