With the aim of reducing weight to increase the range of electric vehicles (EV), nine partners from research and the industry are working on the ultra-light body structure of an electric van. As part of the consortium, Voxeljet AG is supplying sand casting moulds and cores for large-format structural body parts using its VX4000 — the ‘world’s largest’ 3-D printing system for sand moulds.
The company says that compared to conventional die casting, where many individual parts have to be cast and assembled, sand casting is much more cost-effective and faster for product development, as there is no need for costly toolmaking.
As part of the research project ULAS-E-VAN, nine partners are developing lightweight solutions for the body structure and a modular battery carrier system of battery-electric powered light commercial vehicles. Ford is coordinating the research project with a total volume of 5.8 million euros, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK).
The project partners are Altair Engineering GmbH, Bentler Automobiltechnik GmbH, C-TEC GmbH, Ford-Werke GmbH, Franken Guss GmbH + Co KG, Morphotec, RWTH Aachen University’s Institute for Structural Mechanics and Lightweight Construction (SLA), RWTH Aachen University’s Institute for Automotive Engineering (IKA), and Voxeljet AG.
If a light commercial vehicle is equipped with an electric drive, the empty weight increases due to the high battery weight and the possible payload decreases. Lightweight construction makes it possible to increase the range, but also to reduce the battery size, secondary weight and thus battery costs while keeping the range unchanged — hence the consortium’s aim to develop ultra-lightweight solutions for the body and superstructure of such battery-electric light commercial vehicles. In addition to a special 3-D printing process — 3-D sand mould printing — to produce moulds for the large cast parts. Large-format structural plastic parts are also to be used.
The body structure is to be based on a frame-stringer construction, thus transferring the proven aircraft construction method to light commercial vehicle construction, with the frames designed as a single piece wherever possible. The outer skin will be formed by prefabricated plastic panels that are connected to the load-bearing structure. The technologies used are expected to achieve weight savings in the order of up to 150kg on a total vehicle level, thus enabling an increased range or payload.