Lightweight Vehicle Platform for Flexible Seating Layouts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lightweight vehicle designs lack flexibility in seating layout and overall configuration, making it difficult to produce a variety of vehicles with similar dimensions and structural integrity using a universal assembly platform.
Innovation Solution
A universal assembly platform comprising a main vehicle chassis structure with connected front and rear suspension systems, allowing for the mounting of wheel assemblies and accommodating different seating configurations, enabling the construction of various lightweight vehicles with consistent longitudinal footprint length.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a universal assembly platform is designed to accommodate multiple seating configurations, then design flexibility and versatility are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vehicle body is divided into modular sections including a front body section, rear body section, and intermediate section that can be independently configured. The seating structures are segmented into front row seats and rear row seats that can be positioned at different locations along the platform, allowing multiple seating layouts without redesigning the entire vehicle.
Solution Approach 2:
The assembly platform is designed as a universal base structure that can support multiple vehicle configurations. The same platform accommodates different seating arrangements (front row and rear row seats at various positions), different body section combinations, and multiple vehicle types, eliminating the need for separate platforms for each configuration.
2Strength
If the suspension systems are positioned to extend beyond the chassis structure, then structural strength and rigidity are improved, but the overall vehicle length increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suspension systems are nested within the vehicle body structure. The front suspension is positioned within the front body section and the rear suspension is positioned within the rear body section, allowing the suspension components to be contained within the overall vehicle footprint rather than extending beyond it, thus maintaining compact dimensions while preserving structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The suspension systems are arranged in a compact configuration that utilizes vertical and lateral space rather than only longitudinal space. By positioning the suspension components within the body sections and using compact suspension geometries, the structural strength is maintained without increasing the vehicle's overall length.
3Productivity
If multiple vehicle types are produced on the same platform, then manufacturing efficiency and productivity are improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The universal platform is pre-configured with standardized mounting locations, alignment features, and reference surfaces that ensure consistent dimensional relationships across all vehicle configurations. Body sections and seating structures are designed with pre-defined attachment points that maintain precise spacing and orientation, enabling accurate assembly without requiring complex adjustments for each vehicle type.
Data Source
AI summary
A lightweight electric vehicle includes a chassis, a pair of rear wheel assemblies, a pair of front wheel assemblies, a front suspension system, a rear suspension system, a pedestal supported by the chassis, a frontmost seat supported by the pedestal, a rearmost seat configured to accommodate a plurality of occupants and supported by the chassis, a floorboard coupled the chassis, and an electric motor configured to drive at least one of the pair of front wheel assemblies or the pair of rear wheel assemblies. The rearmost seat faces forward. At least a portion of the rearmost seat is located longitudinally rearward of an axis extending through a center of the pair of rear wheel assemblies. The floorboard is substantially flat such that a first footwell in front of the frontmost seat and a second footwell in front of the rearmost seat are coplanar.