Industry 4.0 processes make city e-car affordable
The e.Go Life is a rather simple vehicle: 2 x 2 seats, 15 kW continuous power output (2 x 10 kW peak), maximum speed 90 kmph and a driving range of just 80 km in the basis version, 120 km in the extended version. The powertrain is already a surprise: In contrast to more or less all electric vehicles that run off a high-voltage battery, the e.Go Life contents itself with 48 V. Which enabled the designers to deploy a cost-effective 48V motor out of Bosch’s mass production.
But this is not yet the key factor that allows the e.Go designers to offer the vehicle for just 12.500 euros (the luxury version carries a price tag of 13.900 euros). What makes the car so cheap is the production process. eGo Mobile AG, a spin-off of the RWTH University of Aachen (Germany) transferred the Scrum process, known from software engineering, to car design. Scrum is a flexible, iterative and incremental approach that has proven to speed up large projects and at the same time to keep costs at bay. Thus, the development of the entire car did not cost more than €50 million – a very low price for such a task. Plus, the designers chose to use 3D printing technologies. This enabled them to develop virtual prototypes on their computers and to directly build real versions of these parts in a 3D printer, directly controlled by a PLM software that contained the design data. 30 Percent of the vehicle’s components were made in the printer; no conventional machinery like sheet metal presses or die-cutters were needed.
The PLM software also enabled the design engineers to work in parallel in multiple teams which devised several virtual and functional prototypes each. For the verification of the designs, the developers could utilize the aixCAVE Virtual Reality computing resources in the RWTH Aachen University’s IT Center. This resource significantly sped up the design process, the company says. Early simulation of the mechanical structure was essential to create the torsion-resistant chassis: The battery compartment is used to achieve a high stiffness of the chassis and thus to increase passive safety.
In 2017, the startup company plans to enter pre-series production. Initially a production of 100 pre-series vehicles is planned of which 75 units will be sold to beta testers.
Read also:
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