What Are the Latest Innovations in Electric Vehicles?

Many nations have introduced legislation as part of a collective effort to reduce emissions and prevent further climate damage. It’s no wonder that much of this targets technology, and specifically vehicles. The UK, France, Germany, and many more are working, “to support a shift from fossil fuels to electric vehicles.”

And while the overall presence of electric vehicles on the road is growing, thanks to the increasing importance of environmentally-friendly technology as well as the ever-improving choice and decreasing running costs, they aren’t yet ready to be considered ‘mainstream’.

A key factor in ensuring the market grows and adapts to the needs of the consumer is the continued development and innovation of the machinery. Electric vehicle battery technology must keep striving towards efficiency and longevity; the production process must become greener, and legislative efforts must be maintained. Boldness is required too – autonomous vehicles will be in demand, catching the interest and imagination of a multitude of consumer types.

Design will be crucial to this, and for electric vehicle companies of the near future to take advantage of the change in tide, they will need to be prepared for an agile and responsive market. Product Lifecycle Management will prove valuable in streamlining design and creation processes, allowing entrepreneurs to cement their place in the future industry with efficiency and elegance.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the latest innovations in electric vehicles and design.

Changes in Battery Design

While much of the headline-seizing environmental news concerns technology and design related to generating clean energy, this trend will necessitate the eventual development of energy storage.

The need to make batteries more powerful and faster-charging while also cheaper, safer and easier to recycle means innovative design measures must be taken. As manufacturers look towards the future, they will also need to consider ways to make charging easier and more accessible, faster, and potentially even wireless.

To tackle these challenges, electric vehicle producers will fare better with advanced PLM tools that allow them to analyze and perfect their designs for production.

Building Batteries for Natively Electric Vehicles

As with anything built-for-purpose, natively built electric cars are generally better in terms of driving range as well as overall design. It means the focus of future electric vehicle battery design must take into account full-scale innovation of the vehicle, rather than making adjustments to existing ICE-based models.

Battery-pack architecture is no doubt already far superior in native electric cars, therefore this is where the most gain can be made in terms of winning over consumers.

ICE platforms often use a compromised design that falls short of native designs when it comes to range and performance – the BMW iX3 and Mercedes EQC are notable examples. There is a reason why the Tesla Model-S is still a flagship of the electric vehicle market today – its from-scratch design ensures it stays ahead of the competition.

With this in mind, truly innovative battery design will hopefully need to make fewer trade-offs on cost and performance. The overall design of the car allows for the accommodation of larger and more efficient battery packs, thereby allowing for more range, more power, and faster charging.

Advanced 3D modeling provided by TECHNIA means electric vehicle entrepreneurs of the future will have the ability to craft and perfect designs and test them in a range of environments, ensuring they are optimized for a new technological wave that will take us closer to a green economy.

Changing Regulations for the Powertrain

To meet its pledge for net-zero emissions by 2050 the UK government knows further changes in legislation and regulation is required. This means enabling electric vehicle manufacturers to accelerate innovation in design and technology.

It is not an industry without challenges: charging infrastructure can be improved, and initial costs for consumers can still be high – putting off potential investment. Governments have recognized how important improving regulations is – according to the IEA, governments across the world spent $14 billion on direct purchase incentives and tax deductions for electric cars in 2020.

The UK government is acting to ensure private charge points sold in Great Britain must be smart and meet minimum device-level requirements. Here is an opportunity for start-ups to bring new ideas to the table.

Developments in Autonomous Vehicles

Improvements in energy storage, charging infrastructure, production, and regulation will be positive for the industry, but the vision of the future invariably drifts towards autonomous vehicles.

Companies like Tesla are developing such vehicles, however they aren’t yet fully autonomous, with recent testing not always showing positive outcomes.

They do offer various potential benefits, including reduced human error leading to improved overall road safety, as well as better fuel economy and lower emissions.

There is also plenty of room for new innovations in electric vehicles, an area of a growing industry that is yet to see large-scale viability.

Combining laser illuminating detection and ranging (lidar), radio detection and ranging (radar), sound navigation and ranging (sonar), cameras, GPS, 3D roadmapping and inertial measurement units (IMUs) t0 analyze driving data

Hard-coding and algorithms as well as modelling and intelligence to ensure cars can plan safe paths through road traffic and ensure pedestrian safety in varying weather conditions

TECHNIA’s Offer for EV Startups

TECHNIA is offering a free year of SOLIDWORKS for startups, plus heavily discounted rates for their second and third year.

SOLIDWORKS 3DEXPERIENCE Works for Startups Program means new start-ups can benefit from MySolidWorks online training, co-marketing opportunities, design guidance and access to hundreds of white papers, videos, and feature articles with tips and tricks on taking your product to the next level.

To be eligible, your startup must:

• Be up to three years old
• Have up to $2 million in lifetime revenue
• Have $1 million in lifetime funding
• Have its own products
• Not already be a paying customer of TECHNIA