Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com July 19 news, Volkswagen American Innovation Center recently announced that in the field of electric vehicles, sustainable transportation has made four breakthroughs.

The "breakthrough technologies" are as follows:

AI-optimized battery pack framework for electric vehicles Volkswagen researchers are working on new material structures to reduce vehicle weight and increase electric vehicle range. The goal of the first pilot project is to replace the steel frame of electric vehicle battery packs with lighter materials.

The team teamed up with scientists at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to use AI to develop a miniature pyramidal battery frame.

▲ The structure is made of liquid resin 3D printing and can bear 30,000 times its own weight (68g). In addition, the frame is 60 per cent lighter than steel frames. The researchers found that resin frames have higher strength and energy absorption than steel frames.

A team of scientists at the University of Texas says it is investigating paper as a recyclable alternative to plastic parts and foils for electric vehicle interiors. The team claims to have successfully developed a technology for "preforming and hot-pressing cellulose fiber reinforced thermoplastics" into durable interior parts, converting recyclable paper-based composites into interior parts of different size and adding different textures and colors.

Volkswagen said it was "looking for opportunities" to introduce paper interior trim in future models and was "working to support industrial-scale production."

Lightweight fiber composite body parts researchers used sheet molding compound, a glass fiber reinforced plastic, to remake the rear tailgate of the 2020 Volkswagen Atlas and claim that the new tailgate is 13 pounds lighter than the metal tailgate and weighs more than 35%. The landing of this technology also helps to increase the range of electric vehicles.

Compared with metal tailgates, fiber composite tailgates do not need to change the assembly sequence and can be mass-produced, Volkswagen officials said.

The Volkswagen team has applied for a patent for a coil and charging panel design using silicon carbide materials, claiming that "in early trials, silicon carbide inverter system prototypes have proven to be efficient."

The research team has been able to increase the charging power level of the prototype from 6.6 kW in the early days to 120kW, and plans to further increase it to 300kW in the future.

CTOnews.com learned from Volkswagen officials that the Volkswagen American Innovation Center, which opens in 2020, is located at the University of Tennessee, USA, and is also home to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) funded by the local government. Scientists from Volkswagen, the University of Tennessee and ORNL are collaborating here to develop electric vehicles.

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