Spanish design firm EEVAM looks to help usher in the next generation of EVs and smart vehicles.
Siemens has sponsored this post.
The future of vehicle design is bound to be (at least in some part) electric. This concept has been on the horizon for some time, but in the last few years, it has progressively come closer to reality. As transportation shifts to being powered by electricity, the development of new vehicles is more open-ended than ever.
Engineering organizations like EEVAM (Engineering Electric Vehicles and Advanced Mobility) in Spain, have put a stake in the ground with a mindset toward an all-electric, smart-vehicle future. As engineering experts in the realm of new generation vehicles, EEVAM sees their mission as an effort to promote the design, development and production of electric vehicles (EVs).
“In order to fulfill our mission, we have created a multidisciplinary team which can work alongside OEMs to develop their new vehicles from concept to production,” says Jesús Salazar Avís, the CEO and Founder of EEVAM. Their work is typically based right in the heart of emerging EV tech, focused on creating tailored powertrain solutions, successful chassis-powertrain integration and implementing state-of-the-art electronics throughout the vehicle.
EEVAM has been supported by Pixel Sistemas, a Smart Expert Partner of Siemens Digital Industries Software, since its inception into the Solid Edge Start-up program. This support has included software implementation, training and ongoing technical assistance to help EEVAM to optimize their processes, increase efficiency and achieve their business objectives effectively.
Building the next generation of vehicles
EEVAM was established in 2018 when a group of engineers from the automotive and aerospace industries saw a gap in manufacturer capabilities. Even though EVs have been around for more than 20 years, the regulatory and infrastructure challenges are still like that of an emerging market.
“EV development is increasingly important for the economy in Spain,” says Jonathan Garcia Eguidazu, project manager at Pixel Sistemas. “As the world shifts towards sustainable transportation, Spain and its automotive industry expertise is strategically positioned to benefit from EV manufacturing, infrastructure development and related technologies. EV development can create jobs, attract investment, reduce carbon emissions and enhance energy security, contributing positively to Spain’s economy and its transition to a low-carbon future.”
“Many things are changing and it’s a tricky situation,” Avís explains. “An agile start-up-like mentality is required to properly adapt to this new situation, but for a project to be successful it needs to be backed by a well-established industrial group with enough resources.”.
While large corporations will sometimes have moonshot projects, traditional manufacturers often wait until a market is established before putting their capital force into it. EEVAM is looking to offer vehicle manufacturers (even the legacy ones) an opportunity to bootstrap their EV projects with established industry engineers.
The team at EEVAM works with organizations at any phase of the design process, but they prefer to be involved from concept to production. One client includes an electric motorcycle startup. While the company specializes in electric powertrains, they use Solid Edge to ensure visual similarity to a conventionally powered motorcycle. Replacing a sexy engine with batteries is a common challenge when design EV motorcycles.
Standard combustion motorcycles are often defined by the appearance of the motor, but an electric motorcycle doesn’t have a large, flashy motor. Instead, the main block of the powertrain ends up floating in the frame, covered by a series of side panels that are created with injection-molded ABS. But EEVAM worked on both the capabilities and the aesthetics to help make the motorcycle electrically capable without sacrificing a traditional look.
A focused design firm’s methods for EV development
EEVAM’s work is generally distributed across all areas of the design and development process, from concept to prototyping to production. The company has an integral approach to working with their clients where they prefer to be involved throughout the process, but as can be expected, sometimes they are asked to just focus on specific stages of development. “Like building a first prototype for the manufacturer to test with potential customers before they make the decision to proceed with the full project and involve their own engineering team,” Avís says.
In this sense, EEVAM often acts as a bootstrap development team for OEMs that are looking to get involved in the world of electric vehicles. That means the company needs to be adaptable and agile with their design practices.
Eguidazu describes how EEVAM’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP) lies in its innovative approach to design consultancy, particularly in the realm of sustainable and environmentally conscious design solutions. “EEVAM stands out from other design consultancies by its innovative solutions. The company is known for its creative and forward-thinking approach to design challenges, often pioneering new methods and techniques to achieve optimal results.
For this reason, the advanced shape creation and manipulation capabilities included in Solid Edge, such as synchronous technology, subdivision modeling or 3D rendering, among many others, help EEVAM in conceptualizing unique products.”
Avís explains the company’s design process. “We use Solid Edge as a tool to share knowledge between projects and keep everyone updated about the state of our developments, since it is the easiest way for us to visualize a product that still does not exist.”
Solid Edge is the company’s multi-purpose engineering tool, used for CAD, packaging or layout verification, component integration and everything in between. Space is always critical in vehicle design and with EVs (and all the wiring harnesses that go with them) it’s especially vital to take care when routing and placing electrical components.
Designing and verifying something as miniscule as cable lengths is essential for optimizing the internal space of a vehicle. “We need to have a comprehensive view of the different connectors and the wires connected to their pins. The integration between the 3D CAD and the wiring environments of Solid Edge is a key tool to our workflow. It makes it quick and easy to visualize all the elements around the area you are working on and make adjustments that you can see in real time,” says Avís.
As any engineer is well aware, the work doesn’t end when the design is approved and all parties are happy with the digital version of the product. Suppliers and manufacturability need to be considered, especially when dealing with newer technology that may have limited supply or complicated supply chains.
“With Solid Edge, we can verify the validity of the cast parts according to the parameters used by the manufacturer, make sure that the sheet metal parts can develop their shapes to be cut, ensure the tool radius for the machining… and of course, create drawings and schematics to give all the indications for the assembly, like different connectors for the wires or specially treated surfaces,” says Avís.
With the use of Solid Edge, EEVAM is also able to use KeyShot or the Teamcenter Share AR feature to show their customers final product renders. As a firm, this helps sell the idea(s) at a number of different stages of the process.
“Connectivity and smart features are getting more and more attention and the focus on those areas is increasing within our projects. But electric powertrains will be our main focus for the next few years,” Avís says. He also mentioned some niche applications they are working on, such as energy storage using fuel cells instead of the traditional Li-Ion batteries. While that may be a big part of their future EV design effort, for now they are continuing to focus on lithium-based energy storage.
As we look to the future of transportation in general, EVs are clearly a key part of the direction we are headed. That means more organizations and eventually, more capital from larger companies will continue to make its way into the design and development of electric vehicles. Organizations like EEVAM are leveraging expert niche knowledge to help both OEMs and startups find their way into the future.
Visit Siemens to learn more about the Solid Edge for Startups program.
