Composite Chassis with Integrated Battery Enclosure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric vehicle designs inherit a heavy, non-adaptive chassis from internal combustion engine vehicles, leading to weight penalties and complexity in battery placement and replacement, with safety concerns during collisions and limited access for maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight, composite chassis element with an outer skin, inner core, and aligned fibers that integrates the battery casing as a load-bearing structure, allowing for easy access and replacement, while providing crash resistance and reduced weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pressed steel chassis is used to provide crash resistance and battery restraint, then safety is improved, but vehicle weight increases substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) with steel. The chassis includes a CFRP body portion that provides high strength-to-weight ratio for crash resistance, while steel frame portions provide structural support. This composite construction achieves the required safety performance while significantly reducing overall chassis weight compared to traditional all-steel construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The chassis is segmented into distinct functional portions: a CFRP body portion for lightweight structural support, steel frame portions for heavy-duty support, and a removable battery enclosure portion. This segmentation allows each material to be used where most effective, optimizing both weight and safety performance while enabling easy battery replacement.
2Reliability
If batteries are located behind passengers for safety restraint, then crash safety is improved, but accessibility for maintenance and replacement becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The battery enclosure is designed as a separate, removable portion of the chassis that can be detached from the main vehicle body. This segmentation allows the batteries to be positioned safely within the vehicle structure while enabling easy access for maintenance and replacement by simply removing the enclosure portion, without requiring vehicle disassembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery enclosure portion is designed with dynamic accessibility - while providing fixed structural support during operation for crash safety, it can be quickly removed and reinstalled for maintenance. This dynamic characteristic allows the system to switch between safety mode (enclosed) and maintenance mode (accessible).
3Device complexity
If traditional chassis design is inherited from internal combustion engine vehicles, then design complexity is reduced, but adaptability to electric vehicle specific needs deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The chassis is divided into modular portions including a removable battery enclosure, allowing flexible adaptation to different battery configurations and vehicle types while maintaining overall structural integrity. This modular approach provides adaptability without requiring complete redesign of the entire chassis system.
Solution Approach 2:
The CFRP body portion serves multiple functions: it provides structural support, reduces weight, and accommodates the battery enclosure. The steel frame portions provide both structural support and mounting points for various vehicle components. This multi-functionality increases adaptability while managing design complexity.
4Power
If more powerful batteries are installed to compensate for chassis weight, then vehicle performance is improved, but vehicle weight increases further
Solution Approach 1:
The use of CFRP in the chassis body portions significantly reduces chassis weight compared to traditional steel construction. This weight reduction allows installation of more powerful batteries without proportionally increasing overall vehicle weight, thereby improving power-to-weight ratio and vehicle performance.
Data Source
AI summary
Electric vehicles usually inherit a chassis of a pressed steel construction from a conventional vehicle design. This imposes a substantial weight penalty on the vehicle. We disclose a chassis element for a vehicle, formed of an outer skin material, an inner core material enveloped by the outer skin material, and at least one array of aligned fibres, and comprising a restraint for an electrical battery adapted to locate the battery over the at least one array. There can be multiple arrays of aligned fibres, preferably disposed at a transverse angle relative to each other of less than 90°. We particularly prefer three arrays of aligned fibres, which can be disposed relative to each other at an angle of 60°. The fibres can be disposed within the skin material. The restraint ideally comprises an upstanding wall which will serve to confine the batteries in the event of a collision or other sudden movement, but will allow them to be replaced easily for maintenance purposes or to replace an exhausted set of batteries with a charged set. Alternatively, the restraint can comprise an attachment point for the battery. The core material is preferably less dense than the skin material, thereby allowing the composite element to have a light weight and a high rigidity. The application also relates to a vehicle comprising a chassis, an electric motor, a chassis element as set out above, and electrical connections from the battery to the motor, wherein the chassis element is attached to the chassis via removable fixings extending through the fixing points of the chassis element into corresponding fixing points on the chassis.