The concept of the self-contained EV skateboard chassis has develop into so alluring that startups, suppliers and even automakers are advertising and marketing them as plug-and-play options on which clients can merely add a physique, additionally known as a prime hat.

However like many catchy concepts on the trail to electromobility, this one is also stumbling because it meets the exhausting actuality of going from imaginative and prescient to car growth and manufacturing.

The expansion of the skateboard idea prior to now two to 3 years is partly a results of its disruptive potential. Proponents discuss in regards to the freedoms that come from changing the interior combustion engine with an answer that neatly positions the batteries and electrical drivetrain elements into a relatively skinny rolling chassis.

With no engine in the way in which, theoretically any prime hat or physique might be connected.

The advantages to automakers appear apparent.

“They do not have to start out from scratch, which suggests they will cut back prices and time to market,” Marco Kollmeier, Benteler’s head of e-mobility, stated final yr in regards to the provider’s Electric Drive System 2.0 skateboard rolling chassis, developed with Robert Bosch.

Many have been satisfied.

Canoo’s EV skateboard was “a self-contained unit that may be paired with any cabin design,” Hyundai stated early final yr when it introduced that it could accomplice with the startup to co-develop underpinnings for small passenger automobiles based mostly on Canoo’s design.

Canoo has described its devoted skateboard as being superior to so-called “electromodding,” by which electrical drivetrains are fitted to platforms designed for inside combustion engines.

Across the similar time, Ford stated it could develop an electrical Lincoln based mostly on the skateboard operating chassis created by startup Rivian, an organization by which Ford had a stake.

The listing of corporations that market electrical platforms now contains Canadian provider Magna Worldwide, Method One offshoot Williams Superior Engineering, Taiwanese electronics contract producer Foxconn, Zhejiang Geely Holding and its Lotus model, Israeli startup REE Automotive and U.S. automaker Karma Automotive.

The biggest participant within the EV platform enterprise by way of firm dimension is Volkswagen Group, which has actively sought clients for its MEB electrical structure. Ford signed up and is developing one and possibly two EVs based mostly on MEB beginning in 2023.

The concept of the transferrable chassis goes again 100 years or extra to the times of coachbuilders that will take a operating chassis from producers akin to Bentley and supply completely different our bodies on prime.

The idea has by no means actually gone away on the planet of vans, however it was revived for passenger vehicles in 2002 by Basic Motors, which constructed the Hy-Wire fuel cell concept following the identical precept.

The 11-inch-thick skateboard rolling chassis contained the drivetrain, whereas the physique was connected at 10 mounting factors. Sooner or later, GM posited, homeowners might drive to their nearest dealership and swap our bodies.

The concept was revived once more in 2018 by Swiss automotive visionary Rinspeed for the Snap, an electrical chassis idea that would take a number of commercially oriented our bodies.

The purchasers are actually on the market.

In February, Jaguar Land Rover stated it was wanting exterior the corporate for an electrical platform that would underpin EVs for the reborn Jaguar model.

Fisker has signed as much as use underpinnings from Magna for its Ocean electrical SUV, after which introduced it was exploring a partnership with Foxconn to make use of its skateboard for a second car.

It is tempting to imagine it will probably work, stated David Twohig, a contract engineer who has labored as chief engineer at Alpine and chief technical officer for Chinese language-German automaker Byton.

For one factor, producers want to extend their economies of scale. “It is merely mathematical. The cash you could spend to develop a brand new platform is mind-blowing,” Twohig advised Automotive Information Europe.

Working with a accomplice or getting the platform or operating chassis from a 3rd get together is also unlikely to dilute the model. “It is unhappy to say however one electrical motor is far the identical as one other,” he stated.

However the concept clients can merely plug their very own physique on prime of another person’s skateboard operating chassis is simplistic within the excessive, Twohig believes. It could compromise a spread of key developmental areas akin to crash safety, heating and air flow, noise, vibration and harshness, and dealing with.

“If you happen to’re carrying human beings in a car, these whole-vehicle attributes are nonetheless of main significance,” he stated. “[Is the argument that] the one factor that’s necessary is the skateboard? I do not purchase it.”

Maybe the largest hurdle can be integrating modern-day electronics and electrical architectures. “It is massively complicated and costly, and most platform-sharing tasks often run into issue on the EE structure, greater than on the mechanical facet,” Twohig stated.

The concept of the transferrable skateboard runs counter to the event and design course of for a brand new platform, argues Christophe Cazes, former R&D director at Spanish metallic elements provider Gestamp and at the moment group innovation director at enterprise capital agency Novares.

“It is unimaginable to tell apart what you do on the platform from what you do on the highest hat,” he stated.

For a car, it is tough to enhance on the metallic monocoque design by way of price, crash safety, weight and driving dynamics. “A scalable unibody is the easiest way to get essentially the most out of the fabric,” Cazes stated.

Connecting the physique to the chassis is one other downside for skateboard designs, he added.

The rise of the skateboard pitch is linked to the necessity of startups to boost cash, Cazes believes. “It is a straightforward manner for them to persuade the monetary markets they’ve an answer,” he stated.

All of the challenges linked to skateboard operating chassis seem to have sparked a actuality test. Ford canceled the Lincoln EV on the Rivian skateboard and has but to decide to placing a car from its namesake model on these underpinnings. Ford introduced final month {that a} new, dedicated EV architecture would underpin battery-electric variations of the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator crossovers, in addition to midsize pickups and “rugged SUVs” that can go into manufacturing throughout the decade.

In the meantime, Canoo CEO Tony Aquila indicated that the Hyundai deal can be over throughout an investor name in March, saying that the corporate was “de-emphasizing” its contract work. “We aren’t attempting to be an assembler of elements. We’re creating IP [intellectual property],” he stated.

Williams Superior Engineering, in the meantime, has rethought its skateboard chassis providing, first launched in 2017. It’s now partnering with VW Group subsidiary Italdesign to supply a whole engineering service together with top-hat design for automakers that want high-end EVs.

Williams made the change after studying from potential clients that they felt there would nonetheless be so much to do after shopping for the EVX skateboard.

“Anyone working with us would have needed to do lots of engineering to get to a product,” Paul McNamara, technical director for Williams Superior Engineering, advised journalists in April. “So, right here we’ve got achieved nearly all of the heavy lifting earlier on between ourselves and Italdesign.”

In the meantime, Foxconn’s MIH electrical platform, introduced final October, combines {hardware} with software program to make the combination of the EE structure simpler. The maker of Apple’s iPhone desires its resolution to be as ubiquitous to the EV business as Google’s Android working system is to the smartphone and pill sectors, Foxconn stated in a press release.

“By permitting builders entry to key applied sciences and instruments for growing EVs on MIH, Foxconn reduces the entry obstacles to the business,” the corporate stated.

Israeli startup REE is pitching itself as a supplier of know-how that genuinely can create a versatile electrical platform.

The corporate’s so-called “nook module” packs a wheel, motor and suspension right into a sufficiently small space to liberate far extra space for a van or ride-hailing automobile than a skateboard platform.

“Skateboard platforms are precisely like ICE platforms. Have a look at the construction,” stated REE CEO Daniel Barel.

“A monocoque might be the least modular factor you possibly can consider, so the business is now attempting to have a skateboard that can simply be barely modular after which put completely different prime hats on that.” he stated. “However you can’t change something. The highest hat may be very restricted as a result of the chassis is the limiting issue.”

In April, REE introduced a partnership with Toyota-owned truck maker Hino to develop modular electrical automobiles each for industrial and ride-hailing functions, with prototypes deliberate for 2022.

Industrial automobiles are one space by which the skateboard strategy is smart, engineer Twohig stated.

“I do not imagine in it for passenger vehicles, however I do imagine in it for the LCV [light-commercial-vehicle] world the place you’re much less depending on the standard of the higher physique and when you possibly can simplify the EE structure,” he stated. “I do imagine it is attainable to comparatively merely plug a 1-ton supply van or pickup or a meals truck right into a rolling chassis.”

EV startups that use a skateboard design for vans look to be thriving.

Rivian is growing an EV van for Amazon and U.Ok. startup Arrival is building a van for UPS. Each merchandise are set to launch subsequent yr.

Benteler in April introduced an electrical chassis designed for minibuses, though it says its Electrical Drive System skateboard remains to be getting used to develop electrical passenger vehicles by Chinese language automaker Evergrande, a spokesman stated.

As with mobility as a service, autonomous driving, final-mile supply or any of the opposite disruptions to automotive which can be taking far longer to materialize than initially promised, the plug-and-play EV skateboard chassis thought is one other that is going through its personal actuality test. However behind the breathless investor pitches, there stays an thought that also has advantage because the outdated order adjustments.