Siemens Xcelerator to help BAC build next Mono supercar

Siemens Digital Industries Software has announced that Liverpool-based Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) will use Siemens Xcelerator software to develop the next generation of Mono, its single-seater road-legal race car.

BAC was founded in 2011 by Neill and Ian Briggs to build a road vehicle that incorporated the very latest racing technology and would be equally at home on the road as it is on the track. The Mono supercar weighs just 570kg and is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre powertrain that develops 311hp and 313Nm of torque, to give a power-to-weight ratio of 546hp-per-tonne. Combined with optimal weight distribution and a lightweight structure featuring BAC’s graphene-infused carbon panels, Mono achieves a 0-60mph time of just 2.7sec.

BAC says it is looking to dramatically improve the performance of its next-generation vehicle and has selected NX X from Siemens’ Designcenter suite of product engineering software for the development of its next-generation Mono. Ian Briggs, BAC’s design director and co-founder, said: “We chose Siemens’ Designcenter software to develop the next generation of Mono because it gives us the tools we need to take our vision to the next level.

“Our vision was to create a car that simply didn’t exist. The fundamental principle of a sports car is choosing excitement over utility, and we took that to the nth degree. Mono is that philosophy made real — a vehicle without compromise, built to prove that being ahead of the game means refusing to compromise on the driving experience.

“A key challenge for us is homologating the car for the global market. Understanding the specific positional requirements for everything from headlights to driver sight lines is a complex minefield. The great advantage of Designcenter is that it allows us to build that entire regulatory framework directly into our 3-D CAD model, giving us new levels of confidence and a greater speed of development.”