Chassis reduces weight of core structure by 30 per cent

Paul Boughton

The latest applications in lightweight automotive structure technology will be showcased by design company inrekor at the Low Carbon Vehicle Event 2012, to be held at Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, UK, on 5-6 September 2012.

Inrekor will display the chassis of the QBEAK, an electric vehicle concept which earlier this year won the ‘2012 European Electric Vehicles Early Stage Investment Opportunity Award’. The chassis reduces the weight of the core structure by 30 per cent. It is built from a core of ARPRO, a lightweight material from JSP widely used in automotive applications, sandwiched between layers of aluminium.

inrekor has a high strength-to-weight ratio which provides the perfect combination of high safety levels and weight reduction, resulting in longer battery life – the QBEAK has a battery range of 300km, almost double that of other electric vehicles.

Weighing around 400kg without the battery pack, the QBEAK is about half the weight of comparable cars in the same category, which is partly due to the lightweight inrekor chassis and its impressive technical properties.

Freddy Page-Roberts, of inrekor, said: “It is about more than solely electric vehicles; the larger manufacturers face exactly the same challenges– combining lightweight design with safety and manufacturing practicality. An inrekor chassis for a four-seater vehicle can reduce weight by up to 50 per cent - if all cars produced each year adopted this approach we would see a massive CO2 reduction of 16.8 million tonnes per annum.”

For more information, visit www.inrekor.com

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