Zero Electric Vehicles Inc. (ZEV), a sustainable energy company for electric vehicles, has announced the unveiling of its electrified rolling passenger vehicle chassis with its proprietary energy capture technologies to maximize vehicle range. The company said range improvements have lagged many of the forthcoming enhancements to EVs, which fueled the ZEV team to rapidly deliver technologies that focus on providing more sustainable solutions to an evolving electric vehicle market.
The unveiling of this chassis is only the first phase of a series of key demonstration milestones in 2021 leading to the delivery of the company’s concept vehicle, the Trident. The ZEV engineering team has constructed functional prototypes of proprietary energy capture devices, coupled with an advanced drivetrain control system based on the company’s intellectual property and incorporated them on the new chassis.
ZEV’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Damon Kuhn and Vice President of Electrical Engineering, Rick Lewis led a celebration of the company’s engineering advances, during the Dec. 14 unveil in which customers, investors and ZEV partners witnessed the display of advanced technologies on the modular-chassis platform.
“Rapid prototyping relies on expert knowledge of 3-D computer-aided design using the most advanced additive manufacturing techniques and 3-D printers to create engineering sub-assemblies for detailed engineering simulation analysis and live road testing. The ZEV team uses this engineering construct, among others to quickly develop the chassis and range extension devices that will ultimately reduce parasitic loss during vehicle operation,” said Charles Maury, chief scientist.
ZEV began chassis prototype fabrication on Oct. 5, 2020, and released its completed passenger vehicle chassis on Dec. 14, 2020, setting the tone for accelerated prototype execution rates within the ZEV working environment.
