The lightweight modular EV architecture that Watt Electric Vehicle Company (WEVC) has announced will be used to produce a number of low-to medium-volume vehicle designs, including sports coupes, off-road buggies, and ride-sharing cars.
The UK-based Watt Electric Vehicle Company is an EV business whose goal is to create and market completely recyclable and sustainable EVs.
This philosophy was introduced with the eCV1 vehicle. With it, Watt Electric Vehicle Company hopes to save money and greenhouse gas emissions over the course of the commercial EVs’ expected 20+ year lifespan as opposed to the typical 5–7 year lifespan of other cars.
Through this sustainable design process, WEVC hopes to achieve a closed-loop production program one day. Joining the upcoming eCV1 vans is a new platform architecture Watt Electric Vehicle Company hopes can be used to provide easier electrification to other OEMs and build its own branded models atop it.
Per details from WEVC shared earlier today, its new all-electric architecture was designed as a cost-effective, “off-the-shelf” platform solution third parties can use to create their models atop.
The nucleus of this new modular architecture is Watt Electric Vehicle Company’s proprietary Passenger And Commercial EV Skateboard (PACES), which enables new models to be tailored precisely to customer specifications while still complying with the latest industry safety standards (ISO regulations and European Small Series Type Approval).
WEVC describes PACES as an adaptable bonded aluminum platform that can be modified to almost any size or shape of low-volume passenger EV. The platform supports FWD, RWD, and AWD powertrain configurations and utilizes an assembly technique called FlexTech that interlocks and bonds flat, laser-cut pieces together, as opposed to complex and expensive corner castings used in large-volume aluminum skateboard platforms.
Per WEVC, the result is a modular EV architecture that is flexible, scalable, lightweight, and cost-effective. Per Watt Electric Vehicle Company CEO, Neil Yates:
“This cutting edge, modular platform has been specifically designed for low volume manufacture, a blank sheet of paper providing the best possible structural and dynamic starting point for almost any future high-performance EV, whether a featherweight rear-drive roadster, luxurious coupe or off-road buggy. It also comes fully supported by our leading UK-based EV technology supply chain and, of course, WEVC’s in-house design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities.
We are experiencing surging global demand from customers keen to launch bespoke electric passenger vehicles – and our unique, proprietary offering enables brands to make the EV transition quickly, cost-effectively and with optimized technology, resulting in a product tailored exactly to their needs.”